


The Path of Them

by XxPurpleStars3xx



Category: Mighty Ducks (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 23:30:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12641523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxPurpleStars3xx/pseuds/XxPurpleStars3xx
Summary: Adam's totally in love with Charlie. Charlie's in love with Linda. But when Adam's got a date, Charlie's not so happy, and he doesn't know why. No flames please! Chadam!





	1. Watching and a Date

Adam sat in the stands of the ice hockey rink, watching the love of his life and the love of his life's girlfriend playing hockey. Charlie was teaching Linda, very patiently he might add, how to teach Linda how to play hockey.

Needless to say she was very bad. Even for a beginner.

"I don't know why you torture yourself like this," a voice said, sitting down next to the hockey player. "He'll realize someday, though."

Adam looked next to him to see Julie. He had always liked Julie. She was a great goalie and an even greater friend.

"I don't know either," he replied. "I just like to watch them. If he and I were together, I'd be creaming him out there."

"That's true," Julie said, and they both laughed and Charlie and Linda looked up to see two people in the stands. Frankly, they thought they were alone. "You would be.

Charlie took off his skates and headed up to the stands. Linda wobbled a little, fell and got back up again. She was a little miffed that her boyfriend would rather be with his friends than help her skate out of the rink. She'd never ice skated before, and he knew that.

"Hey," Charlie said, coming up to his friends.

"Hey," Adam said. "You were great out there."

Charlie noticed the way he didn't add Linda's name after that. There was a silence as Linda clunked up the stairs.

"So, we're all going to dinner. You guys wanna join?" Julie asked.

"Sorry," Adam said. "Got a date."

"Nice!"

Charlie didn't know why, but he felt a kind of ache in his stomach. Not like he was sick with a stomachache, but more of a longing ache. One he had never felt before. Even when Linda talked to other guys.

"Who's it with?" Charlie asked a little forcefully, that didn't go unnoticed by the two girls.

"Hey, Banks! Gaffney!" Averman called. "You coming?"

"Be there in a sec! Have to figure out who Adam's going on a date with!" Gaffney called back.

Lester Averman was speechless.

"Dude finally got a date?!"

"Why is that so hard to believe?" Banksy asked. "Can't a guy be interested in me?"

Adam had told his friends that he was gay back in January. It was now March. Adam had first realized he was gay when he realized he was in love with Charlie, back in September, which made his fight with Charlie on and off the rink all the more painful.

"You mean girl…right?" Linda said.

She had never been in the loop with the Ducks. It bothered her very much sometimes. But the Ducks had been together for four years. They were bound to be closer, all being best friends since the age of twelve when the original Ducks met the rest of the USA hockey team.

"No, I'm gay," Adam said. He stood up and grabbed his backpack. "Anyway, I have to get ready for my date with Jason. I'll see you guys later."

He walked outside to his best friends' mouths hanging open.

"You have a date?" Connie asked. "This is great!"

"It'll get you over him!" Guy said.

Adam hadn't told his friends that he was in love with Charlie back when he told them he was gay. Everyone but Adam had guessed it back in November, so when he announced he was gay, everyone but Charlie wasn't surprised. Now, they were impatiently waiting for the Ducks Captain to realize what had been right in front of him for four years.

"Hopefully." Adam smiled. "I'll see you guys later."

Back at the rink, Charlie was almost fuming inside.

"That's good he's getting a date. Not many people are here are like…that," Julie said, hopping down one row. "Nice skating, Linda."

"Thanks," Linda whispered as Julie hopped down the rest of the stands and walked out of the rink.

"Here, let's get you out of those skates and hockey gear and we'll grab some dinner, okay?" Charlie said, trying to calm himself down.

Why am I feeling this way? He asked himself. Adam's got a date. He's happy, so why am I not?

Line break

Adam grabbed his skates from his locker and skated home where Jason Downy would pick him up in twenty minutes. He quickly brushed his hair, his teeth and changed clothes into a nice shirt and jeans. He was just finishing when the doorbell rang.

"And…who are you?" Phillip Banks asked as he opened the door.

Adam closed his eyes tight. He was really hoping his mother would answer the door instead. Even though his father was fine with him being gay, Adam still didn't want him opening the door to his dates.

"James Downy," a deep voice said. "I'm here to pick up your son."

"Adam!" Philip called. "Somebody's here for you!"

Adam raced down the stairs and thanks his father, ushering his date as fast out the door as possible.

"Sorry," Adam apologized as he got into James's car. "He's fine with all of this, but I still don't like him opening the door to people he sometimes wouldn't approve of."

James laughed, his blue eyes sparkling. He started up the engine.

"Fine to me. I felt the same way when I first came out," he responded. "I eventually got used to it."

They made small talk as they headed to the diner where Charlie's mom worked.

Oh crap, he thought as he walked in and took a table with James.

Line break

Charlie and Linda were both out of their hockey gear by the time that James had walked into Adam's house. They were both in Charlie's car, driving and looking around for someplace to eat.

"How about the place where your mom works? The diner? I haven't been there in a while and it'd be nice to see your mom again," Linda suggested.

"Sure," Charlie said, "that'd be nice."

But as the couple walked into the diner and saw James and Adam, Charlie felt that longing sensation again. His mother came up to him and Linda.

"Charlie, Linda, it's so nice that you guys could come by!" Charlie's mom said.

And that's when James and Adam looked up, both recognizing the name. Adam's heart sped up as he looked at the Duck, who was staring back at him.

Oh shit…Adam thought. This is not going to turn out well.


	2. The Diner

Charlie couldn't believe it. Jason Downy and Adam Banks were there…on a date.

Jason Downy? Charlie thought. Of all the guys he chooses Jason Downy?

"Charlie? You okay?" Linda asked, putting her hand on her boyfriend's shoulder.

"Y-Yeah," Charlie lied. "Let's just, you know, get a table."

And of course, Linda just had to choose the table that was behind Adam.

Line break!

Adam was so happy that he had his back to the happy couple, but anxious at the same time. Why did Charlie have to take Linda here? Tonight? Having his date and his love in a two foot radius was not his idea of a perfect date…not even close.

"So, Adam, do you play anything besides hockey?" Jason asked.

"No. Hockey's my life," Adam answered. "Do you play anything?"

"Soccer."

"Soccer's fun."

"Well, maybe you could teach me hockey sometime, and we could play a little one-on-one in soccer."

Adam smiled and looked down.

"Yeah, that'd be fun," he agreed.

"So, what looks good? Have you been here before?" Jason said

"Yeah, many times. Charlie Conway's mom works here, so me and the Ducks come here a lot. I recommend the BLT. Though a classic burger's always good."

There was a snort from behind Adam, but they ignored it.

Just then, Casey Conway came over with a pad of paper and a pen behind her right ear.

"Hey, boys. What can I get for you?" she asked.

"BLT with a Coke, please?" Jason said.

"Same with me, Ms. Conway," Adam said, giving his menu to his best friend's mom.

Adam knew that Casey Conway had remarried two years before, to the dismay of Charlie who had always wanted Bombay to be his stepfather, but the two had separated a year after their marriage. They realized that they had jumped into it too fast, and they just weren't right for each other. Charlie had never told Adam or any of the other Ducks if he liked the divorce or not. That was his business and nobody had the right to pry.

"Be right out," she said, leaving the two boys alone.

Line break!

Charlie kept looking over Linda's shoulder, even though she was talking.

"So, you think you can teach more some more hockey moves soon? It's kind of fun," she said.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Charlie said. "But not tomorrow. The Ducks and I are having a scrimmage. We like to play on the off-season, too."

"That sounds fun."

"Hey, kids, you want the usual?" Charlie's mom said, coming over to the couple.

"Yeah," Linda and Charlie chorused.

"Coming right up." She left.

Charlie looked over when he saw Adam's shoulders shake in a laugh. His stomach twisted in knots as he heard the ringing of bells of his best friend's laugh. He looked over to Jason, anger building in his stomach again. Why couldn't it have been him sitting with Banksy?

Wait, what?! He thought. No, why am I thinking these things?

"Charlie? Charlie? Charlie!" Linda shouted, grabbing the attention of Charlie, Jason, Adam, and the rest of the patrons in the diner.

"Huh?" Charlie asked, tearing his thoughts away from his confusion.

"You're zoning out."

"You okay, dude?" Adam asked from across Linda.

"Fine," Charlie lied. "Perfectly fine."

"Okay," Adam said and turned back to his date, making Charlie's stomach fuel with fire again.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Linda said.

"Yeah, fine," Charlie said.

Line break!

"So, what's happening tomorrow?" Jason inquired as their food came. "You wanna hang out?"

"Actually, I'm playing hockey with the Ducks," Adam said. He took a bite of his BLT and his eyes rolled back in his head. Heaven, as always. "We love to mess around and play hockey every chance we get."

"Hockey's your life, you told me that, but is there really anything else you like?"

Charlie Conway, Adam thought.

"Not really," he said.

Jason knew this wasn't really going well. He hoped Adam knew it, too. He took a bite of his BLT and absolutely loved it.

"Do you want to go pro?" Jason said.

"One day, hopefully," Adam said. "Do you wanna go pro with soccer?"

"I love soccer, but I don't want to play it the rest of my life. I'd rather be a doctor."

"That's really awesome. I'd love it if I were that smart. Do you know what you want to specialize in?"

"Pediatrics. I love kids. I want some one day."

"How many?"

"Three if I can, you know, nowadays. How many do you want?"

Line break!

Charlie wanted to laugh as he heard that and their food came. He knew Adam would love to have kids. Just not that many. One or two he had told Charlie one day. Three would be too many if he made it to the pros like he wanted.

"Charlie, I think you're sick." Linda put her hand on her boyfriend's forehead. "Are you sure you're fine?"

No, because I'm having these feelings that I don't know what to deal with, Charlie thought. "Fine."

He took a bite of his burger, wishing it were now a BLT. Linda took a bite of her Reuben sandwich. She continued eyeing her boyfriend, upset that he didn't tell her what was going on with him.

"Charlie, if there's something that's bothering you, you need to tell me," she said, putting her hand on top of his.

But unlike every other time, Charlie didn't feel those butterflies or that electric shock that he usually felt.

What is going on today?

Line break!

"One or two," Adam replied.

"Everything tasting okay?" Charlie's mom asked, coming up to the two boys. She had been hearing the conversation and knew an awkward part was coming up and decided to interfere. Adam looked straight into his crush's mother's eyes and silently thanked her.

"Perfect as always, Ms. Conway," he said.

"Yeah, it's awesome," Jason said.

There was no talk for about twenty minutes between the four teenagers. The patrons in the restaurant looked at the four kids and decided that something had been going on between them. Whether one couple had an ex at the other table and the date didn't know it, or any of the four kids didn't know what to say.

Line break!

Adam and Jason looked at each other as the bill came. Jason immediately grabbed it and put his credit card into the bill, immediately handing it back to Casey.

"She seems nice," Jason said as she walked away.

"Yeah, she's great," Adam said.

There was another awkward silence as they both got into Jason's car.

"This isn't going to work out, is it?" Jason asked as he put the car into drive, keeping his foot on the brake, though. "We're just too different, huh?"

Adam laughed.

"Yeah," he said.

Jason started backing up.

"And besides, you love Conway, anyway."

"How the Hell do you know that?" Adam asked.

"Please, everyone knows it. I thought I might have a chance though. I don't, do I?" Jason started on the road. "You wanna call the date off and go get some froyo as friends or something?"

"Sure…but everyone knows? As in…the whole school?"

"That's what 'everyone' typically means, right? Well, except for Conway and his girlfriend, that is. That Conway is as dumb as a doorknob when it comes to feelings."

"He's not dumb as a doorknob. He's just really obtuse." Adam played with his fingers.

Jason rolled his eyes and continued driving to the Menchie's down the road.

Line break!

Charlie sighed. Linda couldn't take it this time.

"What's wrong?! You've been weird all dinner!" she yelled, grabbing the attention of Charlie's mother, coworkers, and the other six people in the diner.

"Calm down," Charlie said. "We need to talk."

Charlie got up with Linda, leaving some dollar bills on the table for the bill and tip. He led her out to his car. They both got into it.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I don't know. I just…I don't think I feel the same about you as I did yesterday or for the first few months," Charlie answered.

"Why?" Linda's voice broke. "Do you know why?"

"No, and it's killing me that I don't know why."

"So, does this mean we're breaking up?"

Charlie looked at his girlfriend and saw the pain in her eyes. They were both each other's first love.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, we are." Linda looked down. "I'm sorry."

Linda started crying now.

"And you have no idea why?" She needed confirmation. She wasn't as dumb as people thought she was in the romance department. Halfway through their relationship, around November, she realized that he was Adam's. That he would always be Adam Banks's. "Not even an inkling?"

"No," he said, half-truthful.

"Well." She buckled up. "I guess we should head back to my house."

Charlie started up the car and backed up. Ten minutes later they were at her house. He didn't bother getting her door. He didn't bother getting out and kissing her goodnight. He just watched her slam the door and leave.

He couldn't have felt worse.

Line break!

It was an hour later that Jason and Adam came back from Menchie's. They had talked like friends instead of it being awkward as a couple. It was more relaxed since Adam wasn't as tense as he was back in the diner with Charlie just behind him.

"So, you wanna hang out again soon?" Jason said to Adam as they pulled up in front of Adam's house in Edina.

"Sure. I'll see you on Monday?" Adam responded, getting out of the car.

"Yeah. See ya!"

Jason headed back to his house as Adam opened the door to his house where his parents were sitting in the living room, waiting for him to come home.

"It didn't work out. We're friends now," Adam said, answering his parents' question before they asked it. "Though we did go to the diner and Charlie and Linda were there."

"Oh, honey," Annabeth Banks said, coming up to her son and hugging him. He hugged her back. His parents knew of his love for Charlie, though they both knew that Charlie was with Linda.

"Yeah, well, I'm headed up to bed. Gotta meet the Ducks at eleven tomorrow," Adam said, heading up to bed.

He got up to his room and changed into shorts and a tank. He wondered why Charlie was acting so weird at the diner tonight. It was the same way he was acting when he figured out he was in love with Charlie.

Could he…? Nah, Adam thought. It's never going to happen.


	3. Saturday

Adam got up around nine and got ready to play some street hockey with his friends. They were all meeting at the basketball courts across from the school around eleven. He took a shower and ate some breakfast. By that time it was around ten-thirty. He headed out the door and at eleven he was at the courts, rollerblades on and stick in hand.

"So, how'd your date go last night?" Julie asked as Charlie came through the gate. Now everybody on the Ducks was there. "You gonna see him again?"

Charlie was furious at Julie. He had been up all night wondering what that feeling was, and now here it was again. The only explanation that he could come up with was jealousy. Now, he knew he wasn't gay, but it just confused him why he would be jealous of Adam with another guy.

"Well, we're just friends now," Adam answered, and a calming sensation came over Charlie. "Yeah, we agreed it just wouldn't work out. We're going to see each other again, though. As friends, of course." Aaaaand the feeling was back!

"How'd your night with Linda go?" Lester said.

"We broke up," Charlie answered as he was putting on his pads, saying it as nonchalantly as he could. His friends stared at him. "What?"

"But-but you were happy!" Fulton said. "Where'd things go wrong?"

"I just wasn't feeling the magic anymore."

And that's when Adam's heart soared. So he was available now. Both of them were.

Not that he swings that way, Adam had to remind himself.

"Enough about relationships. Who wants to play some hockey?" Goldberg said. "Captains are Charlie and Julie this time."

"Banksy," Charlie immediately said without thinking about it. Adam didn't move. "Come on."

The Ducks laughed at their teammate. Charlie sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Adam, just come here!" Charlie shouted. Adam smirked and moved over to his best friend's side. He usually wouldn't respond if he was called "Banksy." He hated that name.

A few minutes later, the teams were divided. White jerseys were Adam, Charlie, Averman, Goldman, Dwayne and Luis. The red jerseys were Russ, Julie, Connie, Guy, Ken and Portman. Fulton would substitute for both teams. The teams were switched up each time, so everyone brought both their white Ducks jersey and their red Warriors one. They decided the colors after the teams were divided up.

"First one to fifteen?" Ackerman said. "Can you guys handle that?"

"You're kidding…right?" Adam inquired, raising an eyebrow.

The original Ducks rolled their eyes.

"What?" Luis asked.

"Back when we were in Pee Wee, and were still District Five and sucked, his team won seventeen to zero. Banks made about ten or twelve of those goals," Goldman said. "He was kind of a show off back then. He isn't now. He doesn't shove us into the boards and give us bruises anymore."

"Because thanks to Bombay, I can't show off because you all got better. I don't need to show off," Adam explained, ignoring the bruises part. "Fifteen it is?"

The Ducks agreed and they started. Adam and Guy, the two best players on the team, took the face off, which Adam won. He passed to Charlie, who had skated down the court and shot the puck past Julie, in the to goal, scoring one point.

"Good job, Charlie!" Averman shouted.

"Now just keep doing that and I don't have to do nothing," Goldman said.

"It's 'anything', Goldberg." Connie rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Just keep the puck away from me."

Ten minutes later, the score was red-1 and green-3.

"What the hell, Julie?" Portman said.

"Sorry!" she said.

But forty five minutes after that, the score was tied up 14-14.

"Next goal wins!" Dwayne shouted.

"We're all good at math Dwayne," Fulton said.

Charlie and Fulton took the face off this time, Fulton filling in for Ken. Fulton won the face off and bladed down the court, stopping and setting up score. Everybody immediately got out of the way, including Goldberg. Fulton shot and scored.

The red team cheered and hugged.

"Good game guys," Luis said. "We'll catch ya next time."

Everybody got a drink of water and relaxed for a little bit before they all decided to go get some lunch at the local McDonald's.

"So, you sad things ended?" Averman asked Charlie.

"Yeah," Charlie said, "I mean, I loved her, I really did. Something changed last night, though. I don't know what."

"Did you tell them that our dates were at the same restaurant?" Adam said. When everybody looked at the former Varsity player, he quickly added, "Hey, we didn't plan it or anything. It just happened!"

Averman looked between the two. He knew him and all the Ducks were wondering the same thing: When would Charlie fall in love with Adam? Looking between them, it might be earlier than they expected.

"Yeah, we would've double dated, then," Charlie laughed, but Adam didn't. He just stared at his phone, as if waiting for a text. "You okay, dude?"

"Fine," Adam replied.

"Anyway, who's up for some Mickey D's?" Goldberg said.

There was agreement and they all got up and headed down the street. Julie caught up with Adam.

"I think you have a chance," she said to him, keeping up pace with him. Charlie was at the front while Julie and Adam were at the back. "I mean, he seems angry every time you mention him."

"He did seem a little weird at dinner," Adam agreed.

"See!" Julie hit him. "He could be falling in love with you right now and you wouldn't know."

"He doesn't swing that way, though."

"You don't know that."

Adam rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well, he's not going to fall for me anytime soon, that's for sure."

"Why?"

"He just broke up with a girl he was in love with and you think he's going to fall for a guy just after that?" Adam said in disbelief.

Julie sighed and kept her temper cool. There was no denying that Adam's statement was true. In fact, she believed it herself. She just wanted her two friends to realize they were perfect for each other. Well, one already knew it. The other was as dumb as a doorknob when it came to his feelings for the other boy.

Line break!

When they got to McDonald's, the white team took all of the red team's orders while the red team found a table. The deal usually was that if they were able to go to lunch after a game, the losing team would pay for the winning team's lunch.

"It was a good try," Charlie said, clapping Adam on the back as Adam stepped away from ordering his and Julie's orders. There was a spark of electricity between the hand and the shoulder, making Charlie gasp. He had never felt that before.

Adam, on the other hand, didn't find it anything knew. He just ignored it since he had felt it so many times before.

"You okay, dude?" Adam said, waiting for his orders and looking at his best friend/crush. The exchange didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the team.

"Fine," Charlie replied. "Um, I'm gonna go back with Fulton and all them. Can, you, uh, get my order?"

"Sure…?" Adam replied, very confused as Charlie sprinted off towards the back. Adam turned towards his friends. "Is it just me or was he acting a little bit odd?"

"Who know with Conway sometimes?" Averman said. "But that was definitely something."

"Was there electricity?" Luis asked and Adam nodded. "Well, have you felt it before?"

"Are you saying that he felt it so it scared him off?" Adam said, a little hope in his voice.

"Maybe." Luis stepped up to the register and ordered his and Fulton's orders.

The rest of the team ordered the red team's meals and all waited for the orders to come through. When they did, they all headed back to the booths and tables that the red team had occupied.

"Here you go," Adam said, handing Charlie his fish o' filet meal and salad and Connie's burger and friends. "Julie!" the goalie looked down the table. "Catch!"

Julie caught the burger and looked at him.

"Fries?"

Adam moved down the table and handed Julie here fries.

Charlie started beating his salad down with his fork while Portman sat across from him.

"You're going to murder that thing, you know. You angry about your breakup?" Dean said, taking a bite of his sandwich.

Charlie put his face in his hands.

"I don't know," he said. "I'm just so angry and confused for some reason."

Dean looked towards Connie next to him and Guy who sat across from Connie and rolled his eyes.

"They should get on with it," Dean mouthed to the two.

Connie and Guy shook their heads in agreement.

"So, Connie and Guy, what are you guys doing for your four year anniversary?" Luis asked down the table. "Something special?"

Connie and Guy looked towards each other.

"Don't know yet," the couple chorused.

The Ducks rolled their eyes, used to the unison of the voices. They were perfect for each other.

"Probably just a movie and a nice dinner," Connie said.

"When's your guys' anniversary again?" Adam asked after swallowing a bite of his won fish o' filet.

"March twenty second," Connie and Guy chorused again.

It was March tenth.

"Four years is amazing, guys," Fulton said.

"Yeah, it really is," Julie said. "I wish I had a boyfriend."

"Don't most of us wish we had someone special?" Dwayne said.

"Totally," Adam replied. "Wait, don't you have that Varsity guy? Scooter?"

"Lasted two weeks," Julie answered.

"Yeah, most of the Varsity were jerks."

"Well, see, he liked someone else." Julie looked at Adam.

"Who?" Russ asked.

"Adam."

Adam almost choked on his sandwich.

"W-What?" Adam said. "M-Me?"

Charlie almost lost it then. Adam had two guys that were after him?! Really?! Did he not have a chance?

Wait, what?! He thought. I-I can't have feelings for Adam. I mean…I'm not like that. But, he is cute and a great player and I'm jealous…that's what I was feeling last night. That's why breaking up with Linda felt nice. But I don't like Adam. I don't! I'm straight!

"Wow, Adam, you sure have a lot of admirers," Charlie said.

Not the one I want, Adam thought.

"Yeah, well, is that guy still available?" Adam inquired to his friend. The table around him got quiet, deafening and scary silent. He looked towards Julie. "You wouldn't mind if I went out with him if he agreed, right? I mean, not many guys…" Including the one I want.

"Go ahead," Julie said after a moment.

Charlie got up angrily from the table, knocking over the half eaten filet and fumed out the door. He sat down against the wall for a few moments until Fulton came out and sat next to him.

"What's going on?" he said. "You're acting odd. Is it something with Adam?"

Charlie sighed.

"I have no idea. I mean, I'm jealous for some reason whenever some guy is with him."

"Are you sure you don't like him?"

"Almost positive," Charlie answered.

Fulton knew this conversation was going to stay private, but a smile graced his face. So his best friend had a chance with the love of his life. Interesting…

"What makes you not so sure?" he asked.

"I saw him last night when Linda and I walked into the diner. And between looking at her and Adam and his date, something didn't feel right. My stomach was in knots and my focus was elsewhere all night. They were on Adam for some reason which I can't figure out and it's annoying me and making me go crazy!" Charlie said.

"Jealous?" Charlie snapped his head towards Fulton and nodded. "I'm ninety-nine-point-nine percent sure you like him. You didn't seem so happy back there."

Charlie sighed.

"I think you're right," he agreed. "Now that I think about it, I am gay and I think I do like him. He's amazing and I just…I just…"

Fulton was grinning inside and out.

"Well, what happens now?" Fulton asked.

"I go in and tell everybody that I'm not straight and see what happens."

Line break!

The pair came back into the restaurant to find the rest of the Ducks talking about classes and such. Charlie stood in front of the whole group and sighed, grabbing the attention of everyone.

"I have something to say," he said, but realized a restaurant wasn't the best place to admit you were gay, so instead he continued, "when we're finished eating."

Twenty minutes later, they were all outside on their skates.

"Yeah?" Connie prodded.

"I'm…gosh! I'm…gay?" Charlie said, more like a question than a statement.

"Is that a question? It sounds more like a question than you're actually saying that you're gay," Julie said.

Adam came up and hugged Charlie, making both boys' hearts beat faster, and as one.

"I'm sure," Charlie said, looking at anybody but Adam. "Because I'm…in love. With a guy."

And Adam's heart deflated and plummeted as quickly as it had inflated when Charlie had announced he was gay.

He loves somebody? He thought.

"Do we know him?" Guy asked, keeping his eyes on Adam and not moving them to Charlie.

"Yeah," Charlie said. "You do, but I'm not telling you who."

Just then, Adam's mom called and he couldn't have been happier to see her name on his Caller ID.

"Yeah?" he asked into the speaker.

"I don't know why, but I had a feeling that you need help, so I'm calling you to tell you to come back home," Annabeth said.

"Oh my gosh, yes! I totally forgot! Okay, yeah, I'll be right there!"

The Ducks looked at Adam in confusion. He put down the phone and picked up his bag.

"What's going on?" Goldberg inquired. "Something wrong?"

"No, I forgot I had something to do with my parents this afternoon. I'll catch up with you guys later."

Adam rolled away back to his house.

Line break!

"Okay, spill it," Portman said, turning back to Charlie. "Who is it? Is he gay, too?"

"Yeah," Dwayne agreed. "Tell us."

Charlie sighed.

"It's Adam, okay? It's Adam," he said.

And the Ducks just sent crazy smiles to each other.

"I KNEW IT!" Connie shouted. "I knew you liked him!"

"I didn't even know it until ten minutes ago!" Charlie challenged.

"Yeah, well, it's obvious that you guys are meant to be. Whether or not you guys can see it," Ken said.

Charlie let out a cry of frustration.

"Please don't say anything," Charlie begged.

His friends looked around to each other.

"Fine," they said.

"Good. I actually have to get home and do some chores. I'll see you guys later."

Charlie rode off.

Line break!

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Adam said as soon as he got into the door and saw is mother there. "Thank you for your motherly instincts."

"What happened?" Annabeth asked.

"Charlie said he liked someone."

Annabeth's heart broke for her son. She had always wanted a nice boy for her son, and Charlie was perfect for him. They were both in love with hockey, they were both nice kids and they cared a lot about each other. It was obvious, at least to everyone except Charlie, how amazing they were for each other.

"I'm sorry," Annabeth said. "I'm so sorry."

She hugged her heartbroken son, not letting go until he was ready a few minutes later.

"I'm going to go watch some TV or something," he said, going upstairs to his room.

Annabeth sighed and went back to reading her book, not focusing on anything except her son.


	4. Adam's

It was the most awkward thing going into school on Monday. Him and Linda were basically known as the power couple of the school. The JV captain was even more popular than the Varsity captain, and therefore the JV Ducks had more cred than the upper players. So when Linda and Charlie broke up and Charlie walked into school, there were only stares.

Charlie tried to ignore the stares and whispers when he got to his locker. He heard one conversation down the hall, though, that perked his ears.

"So, he's available now?" a girl asked two of her friends. "Do you think he'll ask me out?"

"Please," one of the girl's friends said, "he's Adam Banks's. Everyone knows that. Well, except Charlie. Everyone's just been waiting until Charlie and Linda broke up so that him and Banks can get together. Charlie's off-limits for basically the rest of his life. So, basically, if he asks any girl out, she has to say no."

Wait, what?! Charlie thought. They couldn't say he was Adam's. He wasn't Adam's. He was sure Adam didn't feel the same way, even. I'm not Adam's!

"Hey," Julie said, coming up to her locker next to Charlie's and spinning the dial. "Just ignore their stares."

"I just heard something," Charlie said to the goalie.

"Yeah?"

"Somebody said that I'm Adam's. That I'm never gonna get a date again unless I'm dating Adam."

Julie froze. He knew?! Of course everybody knew that Charlie was Adam's. Adam didn't call dibs on Charlie or anything, but everybody just knew. Adam heard it once and didn't like it one bit.

"I don't have any claim to Charlie whatsoever," he had said back in December when he had first heard it. "He's with Linda. He loves her. I have no reason to think that we're anything more than friends, or will be one day."

Crap, she thought.

"That's what's said throughout the school," she shrugged. "He's heard it and he doesn't agree with it, either."

Charlie's heart shriveled when he heard that Adam hadn't agreed with the statement. In some ways, he was hoping Adam did. That, maybe, the former Hawk had feelings for him.

Stupid, he thought as he closed his locker. He'll never fall for you.

Line break!

Adam walked into school that day with Averman, Connie and Guy. A random guy with blond hair and blue eyes came up to him.

"Congratulations, Banks," the boy said.

Adam exchanged confused looks with his friends.

"Huh?" Adam responded.

"Charlie and Linda broke up. Charlie's officially yours!"

Adam groaned. He hated that saying. Charlie wasn't his. He'd never be his. Charlie liked someone else, and he just hoped that Charlie didn't hear the saying.

"He's not mine," Adam rebutted. "I hate that saying, like I have some claim over him and nobody can go out with him."

The boys rolled his eyes and walked away.

"Well, he's right," Averman said, fixing his glasses. "Adam's yours if you want him."

"He's not interested in me, gay or not," Adam said as the four made their way to their lockers, which were right next to each other.

"You don't know that," Guy said. He looked to his other two teammates for help. They couldn't tell Adam that the boy he loved, loved him back, but they didn't want to discourage him either. "He may fall for you."

"Yeah, just keep up hope," Connie said. "Maybe one day."

"Hey, guys," Charlie said, coming over to his friends with Julie, who was also accompanied by Ken, Dwayne, and the Bash Brothers. Luis was late…again. "What's up?"

The stares didn't stop. Instead, they grew enormously as the student body watched the two boys who were deemed "each other's" interact.

"Nothing. How was the rest of your weekend? Anything fun?" Adam asked, trying to ignore the stares. "You see them, too, right?"

Charlie laughed, making Adam's heart swell, and nodded.

"Yeah, I do," Charlie responded. "It's mostly cause Linda and I broke up. Don't worry, they'll go away."

They're not because of you and Linda, Connie thought, and looked to Julie, who nodded in agreement of what Connie was thinking.

"So, you guys do anything fun yesterday?" Julie inquired to the group.

"You know, went out with this lovely lady," Guy said, bringing Connie closer. The group gagged. "Hey, hey, wait until you guys have a girlfriend, or boyfriend."

"I can give you Scooter's number," Julie said to Adam.

"You know what, I got to know him on Varsity, and I didn't really like him, I remembered…so…thanks, but not," Adam replied.

Charlie's heart rose back into his chest just as quick as it had dropped into his stomach when Julie mentioned Scooter to Adam. He wasn't "officially" Adam's. He wasn't Adam's boyfriend, or anything more than friends, but he still was upset that Julie had mentioned it, even though he told her he liked Adam!

Really Julie? He asked himself.

"Good idea," Charlie said without thinking. "All those guys were jerks, anyway."

The group looked to Charlie, who was giving Julie as deadly a glare as he did when Stansson hit Bombay's bad leg back at the Junior Goodwill Games.

Dammit, Julie thought. I forgot! How could I forget?

"Sorry," she mouthed to Charlie.

"Yeah, they were," Russ said, picking up where Charlie left off. "Rich white boys got everything."

Adam raised an eyebrow at his friend. He had always gotten Cake Eater. Before he was on the Ducks, he was hated by them for not, only beating them and being a better player, but for being rich. He didn't mind it so much after he had become best friends with them. It was more of a game, now. He had gotten so used to it that he had learned to ignore it, and it didn't both him anymore. So, even though Russ was his friend and he had heard the line months ago, it still upset him a little bit. So some people had a little more money. So what?

Russ looked around the circle, nobody meeting his eyes. He was confused until he remembered that one of his friends was a rich white boy. He turned around to see Adam turned back to his open locker, looking for something nonexistent.

"Adam, I—" Russ started.

"No, it's fine," Adam interrupted. "I get it. I do."

But Adam was upset, even though he tried to hide it. He closed his locker, and pushed past the staring eyes of the crowd to his first period Music class.

"I really didn't mean it," Russ said. "It was one of those things where you speak without thinking."

"We know, Russ," Lester said. "We know."

Line break!

It was lunchtime when Adam saw Russ again. Adam could concentrate on classes, but not as much as usual. He was still a little upset about the "rich white boy" comment.

"Dude, I'm sorry," Russ said, sitting down next to him.

"It's fine," Adam said, looking at the Knuckle Puck shooter. "When I say I'm from Edina, it's usually given. I've been with most of these guys for four years, and I'm used to getting it from them. It's just…you know…"

Russ nodded and the other team members sat down.

"Anyone seen Linda today?" Dwayne asked.

"Dark hair, red eyes? Yeah, I have," Averman said. "Was sending death glares to Charlie all throughout Math."

That got a chuckle out of everyone except Charlie. He groaned and put his head in his hands.

"I feel bad," he mumbled.

"Because you fell for a guy and had to break up with her? Don't feel bad for that," Luis said.

"Yeah, you can't help who you fall for," Adam said, and everyone except Charlie understood the double meaning.

"I know," Charlie agreed. "Just the way things ended."

"Did you tell her why?" Guy asked. "I'm sure she'd excuse you if you explained why you thought breaking up with her was right. I mean, it was, but…"

"No, I didn't. I just understood the feeling Saturday. It feels right without Linda. Like, something good's gonna happen."

"Don't worry." Connie grinned at her friend. "Something good will happen. You'll end up dating them within no time." There was a kick from across the table. She looked up with an "Ow!" at Adam.

"Aww, did Adam kick you?" Fulton asked.

Charlie took his lunch and said he need to go outside and think for a bit. This was all too much for him.

"Thanks a lot," Adam said to Connie.

"What? I didn't say who he would be dating," Connie said. "I just said that something good would happen."

Adam rolled his eyes and went back to his sandwich.

"So, he broke up with Linda, huh?" Ken said, making Adam smile. "There's that smile."

"I feel bad," he said. "On one hand, he broke up with a girl he loved. On the other, he's available."

"Why don't you ask him out?" Julie said. "He's available. He's gay."

"He's not interested," Adam shot back, eating a grape.

"You don't know that," Averman said.

Adam didn't respond, making the recipients at the table understand that the conversation was over.

Line break!

Charlie sat outside, eating his lunch, trying to ignore the stares that seemed to follow him everywhere.

I am not Adam's property. I am not Adam's, he thought. He remembered what the girls at the locker this morning said. Let's put this to a test.

He put his lunch down and went over to a particularly beautiful blonde talking to two of her friends.

"Hey," he said, coming over to her. "Can I ask you out on a date for Friday?" The blonde looked at her friends in desperation, almost asking for help. He took that as a "No". "Can you at least tell me why you can't? Is it because I just broke up with someone on Friday? It is something else?"

The girls giggled.

"You're Adam Banks's," the girl said.

"And what makes everybody say that?" he groaned. "We're not together."

"You will be soon," a brunette friend asked.

"You don't know that."

"Well," the redhead said, leaning forward, let me ask you a question. Are you gay?" Charlie didn't answer. "Do you like Adam?" Charlie didn't respond. "You do!"

"No I don't."

"Sure." The word was dragged out like she didn't believe it. "You're Adam's. Nobody's going to agree to go out with you."

Charlie hung his head in defeat.

"Do you want to be Adam's?" the blonde said.

Charlie nodded.

"Then go for it," the brunette urged. "You'll never know what happens unless you go for it."

"I'll go for it when I'm ready," Charlie rebutted. "I'm not ready. I just figured out on Saturday I liked him. I just broke up with a girl on Friday. I don't think I'm ready for that."

The three girls shrugged.

"You're loss," the redhead said. "You wait too long, that boy's going to get snatched up."

Charlie nodded again and left, thinking about what decision he had to make.

Ask Adam out and possibly getting his heart broken if Adam didn't feel the same way?

Or wait too long and see Adam snatched up by someone else?

He knew he had to make a decision soon, or both of his options would end in heartbreak. But he knew that the saying was true: He was Adam's. He was undeniably and irrevocably in love with Adam. There was no denying it.

The ball was in Adam's court. He just hoped that he won the game…and Adam's heart.


	5. The Hallway Conversation

Adam walked down the halls of the prep school after lunch period, ignoring the stares that had been following him all day. He kept hearing that saying over and over in the halls.

He is not mine, he thought. He doesn't feel that way about me, even though he does swing that way.

He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't see Jason come down the hall. He got knocked down to the floor.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was—oh, hey!" Adam said as was picking up his books and papers.

"Hey," Jason said, smiling at Adam. Again, there were whispers and stares. "Man, have those gone on all day?"

"Yeah." Adam frowned. "The stares at Charlie about how he broke up with Linda. The stares that I like him and he's 'mine', which is totally untrue, and the whispers when we'll get together."

And just as fate would have it, Charlie came down the hall. He came to a stop as he saw the two boys on the floor, laughing and talking. And the hall went quiet as soon as they saw the Ducks' Captain stop. And like a bad western movie, everybody disappeared into the classrooms, and there was still two minutes until the bell.

"Where'd everybody go?" Adam asked.

"Class, apparently," Charlie replied, making the two boys on the floor look away from each other and to the third boy who had just made his presence known. "Hi."

"H-Hi."

Jason rolled his eyes at the Duck hockey players.

How oblivious can they be? He thought.

"I'm gonna get to class," the third wheel said. "I'll see you later, Adam."

"Bye," Adam farewelled.

"He's yours for the taking," Jason informed, whispering into Adam's ear.

Adam groaned and about to rebut, but Jason was gone before he could.

"You and Jason going on another date?" Charlie inquired, a splash of venom in his voice. Adam almost stepped back.

"Didn't I tell you on Saturday we agreed to just be friends?" Adam said, just as much venom in his voice.

The bell rang, but neither hotheaded boy moved.

"Friends can fall for each other, right? Especially if they've already been out on a date. I mean, look at Guy and Connie! They've been together for years!"

"Friends don't always fall for each other. One can and the other can't," Adam told his best friend and Captain. He stopped then.

Oh shit, did I just say that? He asked himself.

"And that means…?" the brunette prompted.

"Nothing," Adam said. "I gotta get to class."

Charlie caught Adam's hand before the boy could get away.

"What does that mean?" Charlie said.

Adam took a deep breath.

"It means that if you looked a little harder, you could tell which friends have fallen for each other and which haven't reciprocated the feelings or if neither felt the same. For example, Karen Leonard and Brett Stevens," Adam responded. "Both friends or has one fallen for the other? Or, have both fallen for each other and neither one knows it?"

Charlie thought back to when he had seen Karen and Brett together in the hallways. How Karen would look at the blonde with soft eyes. How she would laugh at one of his jokes, even when one wasn't funny. Brett didn't touch her unless needed to. He didn't flirt with her.

They two were best friends, but nothing more, at least, on Brett's side.

"Karen likes Brett," Charlie replied. "And while Karen likes him Brett doesn't feel the same. What has this got to prove?"

"That one friend can fall for the other and the other doesn't always reciprocate."

"Anyone else we know?"

Adam knew that he needed to get out of this conversation. Get to class (preferably), make an excuse that he needed to go to the bathroom, anything that got him out of that hallway, out of that conversation. He knew he would blurt something out that he would rather not

Adam hesitated before answering.

"No. No one."

There was an awkward silence before Charlie spoke.

"I, uh, gotta get to class. I'll, uh, see you later," he said and headed off down the hall to English.

"Yeah," Adam whispered to himself as he watched the love of his life walk down the hall. He, himself, turned to his right and looked at the Math class he was supposed to be in. Before he walked into it, he whispered, "See you later."


	6. The Parental Conversations

Adam skated home that afternoon, absolutely furious with himself? Why did he have to say those things that he did? Why did he make it so blatantly obvious that he was talking about the two them?

That one friend could fall for the other, while the other didn't reciprocate those feelings.

"I hate myself," Adam said as he came into the house, hastily taking off his skates.

"And why would that be?" Annabeth asked, sitting in a chair and reading her book. "Would it happen to have something to do with a certain boy you're in love with?"

Adam shot his mother a glare as he threw his backpack down on the couch.

"Okay," she said, "not funny. What happened today?"

"Well, first of all, there were stares because Charlie and Linda broke up Friday night. There's also that saying going around that he's mine so no girl can go out with him. And he knows that now. We're also going to mention the fact that after lunch, we had a very interesting conversation in the hallway. I bumped into Jason in the hallway and Charlie just happened to see. And as soon as the people in the hallway saw the three of us, they scattered. And then Jason left for class, leaving Charlie and I to talk about how friends can fall for each other after blatantly denying that Jason and I will be going on a date again. It was terrible, Mom. I almost said I liked him."

"Sounds like he's jealous," Annabeth yelled from the kitchen. She had gone into the kitchen to get some tea. "Why else would he ask if you guys would be going out again?"

"Because he's being a concern friend…if nothing more." Adam took the tea and sat back on the couch. "I hate having feelings for somebody that doesn't feel the same for you. Even if he is gay now, he's never going to love me like I love him."

"Well, how about we come to the conclusion that even if he wasn't jealous, there's still the possibility that he could fall for you." Annabeth sat next to her son and put an arm around him. "Love can be so stupid sometimes."

"You got that right."

Line break

It was quiet between the Banks trio at dinner that night. Finally, Philip put down his fork and said.

"So, Adam, how was school?" he said a little harshly, begging for some communication between his wife, son and himself.

"Fine, I guess," Adam answered, shrugging.

"How's the Ducks?"

"Fine."

"Is that all that happened today? No big grand thing happened?"

"No, nothing happened," Adam spat, his anger at himself from the day came up through his body and was directed towards his father. "Not one damn thing happened!"

Adam barged up to his room.

"What happened today?" Philip asked, knowing his son wasn't like that at all.

"Charlie Conway," Annabeth said, and filled her husband in on the details of the past weekend, since he had been on a business trip since Saturday morning.

Line break

Adam laid on his side, looking at the picture of him and the Ducks.

He still remembered when he told his father he was gay back in October. His father, albeit a little hesitant at first, said he would love him no matter what and asked if he had his eye on someone.

"Charlie Conway," Adam had replied and his father silently stared at him, and then nodded a few moments later.

Adam heard a knock on his door.

"Go away," he said.

"Adam, your mother told me what happened," Philip said, coming into the room, making Adam roll on his other side and stare at his father. "She told me that Charlie and Linda broke up and that nothing came of you and Jason. She told me that Charlie liked someone and about the saying going around school that he's yours and nobody else's, and she told me how you almost let it slip today after lunch that you liked him."

"Good old Mom."

"I think he could like you back. After all, you're you."

Adam laughed, though he knew it wasn't funny. He sat up, prompting Philip to take the spot on the bed next to his son.

"We're the, uh, 'It' couple that isn't a couple. Everybody's waiting for it to happen, and it's not. I actually don't think it's going to happen. Mom says he's jealous that I went out with Jason. I think he's jealous because he likes Jason. That's who he likes."

"Now why wouldn't Charlie Conway like you?" Philip said. "Did you two become best friends after the championship hockey game years ago? I mean, with all the other Ducks, but especially him?"

Adam looked down into his lap and smiled.

"Yeah, I did, but that's all I am to him," he replied.

"You're more than that. Believe me. Even if he doesn't know it yet, and goes after another boy, I've seen the way he looks at you, he likes you too."

"Thanks, Dad," Adam said.

"Anytime." Philip kissed his son on the forehead and went back downstairs to finish his dinner.

Line break

Charlie wasn't hungry.

Well, that's what he said to his mom when she asked why he wasn't eating. But Charlie never refused a meal, so she didn't buy into it for a second.

"What's wrong? Is it about Adam?" Casey asked.

"No," Charlie lied. His mother gave him a hard look. "Fine. I walked into school today to stares because I broke up with Linda."

"Did the stares both you?"

"Not as must as the phrase that I'm Adam's and nobody else can have me and no girls can go out with me."

"Oh," Casey said, a little shocked at the statement. She had kids come into the diner and heard that saying, but she had thought it was a joke. She had never thought it would be serious. "Is this something that's good? Bad?"

"I don't know." Charlie groaned and put his head in his hands. "I love him, but if he doesn't love me back, then there's absolutely no chance that I'll get a guy or girl, again."

"Charlie, I'm sure that whether or not he loves you, you're going to get another significant other…maybe not until college, but another significant other."

"Thanks, Mom," Charlie said, almost sarcastically. "You know just what to say to make a boy feel better." Casey came over and gave her only son a hug. It always made him feel better, even now when he was in high school. "Mom, do you think he loves me?"

"I think he loves you back just as much as you love him," Casey replied, looking up and praying, I hope he does.


	7. Operation: Chadam

It had been a month since the hallway conversation, and everything had gone back to normal (except for the occasional whisper or stare as the boys dubbed "Chadam" walked down the hall together), which annoyed the Ducks very much.

So, that Friday, a month after everything had gone down, the Ducks minus their Captain and Adam, met in the JV locker room after school.

"We need a plan. Things were going forward and now they're standing still!" Averman shouted.

"What are we going to do? Locket them in a closet?" Guy asked.

"No, that's far too old. They'll realize what we're doing the second we push the second boy in there," Connie said.

"Well," Julie started, "I, for one, think we should leave them alone. Let them get together on their own time."

The Ducks looked at each other and told the goalie, "Nah!"

Julie sat back with a huff.

"Julie, if we wait for them to get together, they'll never get together. Eventually one of them will move on," Russ said.

She huffed again.

"Well, whatever we do, it has to be done tonight at Averman's party. Those two need to get together now!" Fulton said, and everybody agreed, even Julie, though she didn't agree with a plan to get them together.

"Spin the Bottle?" Portman said.

"Well, how are we going to make sure it lands on them?" Dwayne asked.

"Magnets? Put one magnet inside one of the boys' pockets, put one on the bottle?" Luis said.

"Great idea," Ken said. "But how do you know that they're going to confess their feelings afterwards?"

"Lock them in a closet," Guy suggested again. His best friends looked at him in disbelief "It could work."

"It could also end up getting us killed," Julie rebutted.

"Cat, if you want to spoil one of the greatest ideas ever, go away," Goldberg demanded.

It was no surprise when Julie left.

"See you tonight at seven!" she called back, slamming the locker room door.

"So, we play Spin the Bottle, make sure it lands on them and stuff them in a closet? Isn't that called 7 Minutes in Heaven?" Connie asked.

"Yep, that's the plan," Fulton answered. "Should we all get to Averman's house and set up?"

The team looked at their watches. It was just about 3:30. Lester's party started in three and a half hours.

"Yeah, let's head there now," Lester said, picking up his skates and putting them on.

The rest of the Ducks did so as well. They grabbed their bookbags and skated the ten minutes back to Averman's house.

"Hey, Mom, we're just getting ready for the party," the hockey player said as all but three of his teammates walked through the door.

"Uh, I think you're missing two boys and one girl," Mrs. Averman noticed.

"Well, we came up with a plan to get the two boys together, and they can't know. The one girl didn't like the fact that we're going to try to get the two boys together, so she'll be appearing in three hours.

"Wait…you guys aren't waiting for Adam and Charlie to get together by themselves? You're making them force their feelings on each other? When they look back and think how they got together, would you rather them think about how they got together locked in a closet, or some romantic way?"

"Well…when you put it like that…" Russ said, pretending to mull it over. "Sorry! Cake-Eater and Captain Duck have to get together soon."

"It's okay," Connie said, clapping her best friend's mom on the back, "Julie didn't agree either."

"I can see why," Mrs. Averman said. "Just…go set up for the party."

The Ducks went into the basement and started putting up decorations. Lester got the food bowls from the kitchen and filled them with pretzels, Cheez-Its, trail mix and other assorted snack foods, along with some soda bottles and plastic cups.

Julie arrived around six-thirty.

At seven, the doorbell rang and the Ducks smiled at each other as the soon-to-be-couple arrived together. Adam had told the gang that he would be catching a ride with Charlie. When they had heard that the day before, the shared secret smiles with each other.

"Welcome, to my humble abode!" Averman announced as Charlie and Adam came inside and followed the host into the basement. Averman put his arm around Charlie. He wanted to put the magnet in his pocket, but when they played the game, it would always land on Charlie…and he didn't think that Charlie nor Adam nor Connie or Guy would like if everyone had to kiss Charlie. "So, how's your day been?"

"Good," Charlie answered, sharing a look with Adam, who was also as confused as him to Averman's overly cheery mood, as he had just failed his Math test first period today, which he was overly upset by. "You over your test?"

"Not yet. But soon."

"Adam! Charlie!" Julie said as the two and Averman appeared on the basement steps. "How's it going?"

"What's with everybody and the overly cheery mood today?" Charlie whispered to Adam as he went over to the snack table and grabbed a soda.

"I don't know, but it's creeping me out," Adam whispered back.

"Me too. If it gets too creepy we're leaving, okay?"

"Deal."

"What are you two whispering about?" Luis asked from across the room.

"That if it gets too overly cheery in here we are leaving," Adam replied.

"At least stay for Spin the Bottle!" Dwayne said.

"Spin the Bottle?" Charlie said in disbelief. "Aren't we a little too…old for that?"

"Yeah, isn't it a little to juvenile?" Adam agreed.

"These two boys are completely oblivious to how perfect they are for each other," Julie whispered to Connie.

"Because they're boys and they're idiots," Connie said. "You don't know how long it took Guy to realize that not only did he like me but how long I liked him."

"Hey, stop whispering about me!" Guy said, coming over to Connie and kissing her on the cheek. "How many times did I say I was sorry?"

"About a million." Connie kissed him on the cheek.

"How long until Operation: Chadam takes place?" Julie said.

Connie and Guy raised their eyebrows at each other and then at their goalie teammate.

"I thought you didn't like the plan?" Connie said.

"I don't. I just think that them getting together needs to happen soon," Julie responded.

"Who's ready for Spin the Bottle?" Dwayne said, pulling out a root beer bottle.

"Me!" All the Ducks chorused.

"Fine," Adam said, dragging his feet and going to center of the room, away from the TV and couch and table.

Charlie looked over at Adam moving away from him.

He's playing? He thought.

He didn't necessarily like that Adam was playing. I mean, he was in love with him and he didn't want to see him kissing the girls or any of the other Ducks.

"Great. Let's play," Charlie said, following Adam and sitting down next to the boy.

Averman slipped the magnet in Charlie's front pocket, unbeknownst to Adam or Charlie.

"Adam's first," Goldberg said.

The former Hawks player sighed and put his hand on the bottle, ready to spin it. The rest of the Ducks, except Charlie, smiled.

Let Operation: Chadam begin.


	8. Locked in a Closet

Adam put his hand on the bottle.

"Someone remind me why we're playing this trivial game again?" He said to his best friends.

"Because it's fun…?" Fulton said, but the statement came out more like a question.

Adam sighed and spun the bottle. It was no surprise that it landed on Charlie.

Both boys looked at each other in shock.

This cannot be happening! Adam thought.

Oh. My. God! Why?! Charlie thought.

The rest of their friends smiled.

"Well, this is certainly unexpected," Connie observed with a grin.

"That was a practice spin," Adam retorted. He didn't see the pain projected on Charlie's face when Adam said that. His friends did, but the love of his life didn't.

Does he not want to kiss me? Charlie asked himself. Why not?

"Nope. You gotta kiss. Those are the rules," Goldberg said, giving his friends sly smiles.

Adam and Charlie both looked at each other. They wanted to go into that closet at the prospect that they could kiss one another, but at the same time, they were like Mrs. Averman and Julie, not wanting to kiss or get together while they were in a closet with their best friends pushing at them to go in because of a silly little middle school game.

"Uh…I guess we have to go in Averman's closet now, huh?" Charlie asked, trying to stall. Adam knew what his best friend was doing and continued the little charade.

"I, uh, guess we do…" Adam continued.

"We know you're stalling," Ken said.

"Get in the closet before we push you in there," Guy demanded.

Adam and Charlie stood up and turned around. Adam opened the closet and made the "After you" signal to Charlie. Charlie went in and Adam followed. The Ducks leaned their ears again the door almost immediately after the door shut.

"Okay, the clock starts…now!" Lester yelled.

In the closet, the two boys, whom were extremely oblivious that they loved each other, looked at each other awkwardly.

"So, uh…" Adam started. "We're in a closet…and we're supposed to kiss."

"Yeah." Charlie scratched his head, even though the spot wasn't itchy. "This is kind of awkward, isn't it? I mean, I'm sure you like somebody and I'm sure he likes you back, so how about you imagine I'm him."

The words Charlie said hurt himself almost as bad as it hurt Adam to hear them.

"He doesn't," Adam mumbled.

"Huh?"

"The guy I'm in love with. He, uh, told me one day that he love somebody."

"Did you ever ask if that somebody was you?" Charlie inquired.

"No."

"Then how do you know it's not you?"

"WE HEAR A LOT OF TALKING IN THERE!" Dean yelled. "YOU GUYS KEEP TALKING AND WE ARE KEEPING YOU IN THERE LONGER!"

Adam and Charlie looked at each other in shock.

"Just imagine I'm the boy you love when we kiss. I'm sure he loves you back," Adam told Charlie.

"If he loved me he wouldn't be making plans with other guys," Captain Duck responded.

"Isn't he allowed to have friends?"

"Not friends that he was previously in a certain situation with."

Charlie immediately shut up and looked at Adam, hoping he couldn't figure it out.

"Like…a date perhaps?" Adam guessed.

"Yeah, exactly like a date," Charlie said, knowing there was no use in denying it. He hung his head.

"Well, maybe he does love you back, he's just afraid you don't love him."

Charlie's head snapped up and looked straight into Adam's eyes.

"Does this guy love me back?" Charlie asked.

The gang outside the door was getting angsty. The conversation inside the lightened closet was getting too much to handle. Connie and Julie were trying hard not to jump up and down and squeal. The other side of the Ducks' morals thought they shouldn't invade on a private moment. They simultaneously backed up and went upstairs, leaving the couple to talk.

Back in the closet, the two boys looked at each other.

"This guy has loved you since September," Adam said. "How long do you think this guy has loved me?"

"Not as long. A month," Charlie replied. "So now that we know the guy we each love loves us back, what do we do?"

Adam slid down the wall and sat on the ground. Charlie sat down in front of him. They knew their seven minutes were almost up. That didn't matter though, because the Ducks heard talking, and no doubt they would be keeping the boys in their for longer than seven minutes.

They had time to discuss and work this all out.

"This could ruin everything," Charlie observed.

Adam looked up from where his head hung, not looking at his hands anymore.

"You think I don't know that?" He basically bit off Charlie's head. "Do you think that that didn't keep me up all night some nights thinking that evne if you did break up with Linda and had even the slightest feelings for me that even if we did get together and break up it could ruin everything? Our friendship, our playing on the ice, the team? What would Coach even think about two of his members dating? It'd be different with us, we're two guys versus Connie and Guy."

And suddenly, they were talking in first person. They weren't talking hypothetical, they weren't talking third person, but they were talking first. It scared the crap out of both of them. Charlie huffed.

"It could either be the best decision or the worst decision we've ever made," he told Adam. "Personally, I'm hoping it's the former."

Adam continued to stare at the love of his life.

"I've wanted this for so long and suddenly…suddenly…"

"It gets complicated," Charlie finished for him. "I know. What are we supposed to do? Go on being friends and pretending we're not in love? I don't think I could handle that if we both know that the other is in love with them."

"Charlie, I don't know about this," Adam said.

Charlie grabbed Adam's hands, making the hockey player look up and lock eyes with his Captain. The gaze held for several moments, each trying to read what the other was thinking.

"You want to be with me like I want to be with you…right?" Number 96 asked.

Adam nodded.

"Since September," Adam answered.

"I know it's scary," Charlie said. "I'm scared too. I've only ever been with Linda and now…loving a boy, especially my best friend and teammate? That's scary to me." Charlie moved and sat next to Adam. Adam looked ahead, but Charlie looked at Adam, turning to his right. "Look, if we have a problem, we'll get through it together. We always do. You know, except for the Varsity/JV thing."

Adam turned and looked to Charlie. There were tears in the blonde's eyes.

"I know we'll get through it," Adam agreed. "It's scary to me, though. I've never been in a relationship before, even with a girl. It's frightening, especially that it's going to be with a boy."

Charlie brought Adam into a hug. He held the boy.

"So what happens now?" Charlie asked.

"I want to be with you," Adam said.

Adam looked up and Charlie looked down. Slowly, they brought their heads together and their lips met.

Fireworks appeared behind both boys' eyelids. Charlie pulled Adam closer to remove as much space as they could between their bodies, and Adam moved into a sitting position.

"I love you," Adam said as the two pulled away (although reluctantly thanks to the need to breathe).

"I love you, too," Charlie said, grinning as he gave Adam a quick peck on the lips. "So, what happens now?"

"Well, I ask you to be my boyfriend, we go out there, find our friends and quickly decide whether to be angry that they did the cliché push-in-the-closet thing or be happy that they got us to admit our feelings for one another."

Charlie nodded and smiled.

"So," he started, "ask the question."

Charlie stood up and Adam got down on one knee, taking Charlie right hand in his. He tried to be serious, both boys did, but it ended up cracking them up.

"Charlie Conway, will you be my boyfriend?" Adam asked.

"Yes, I will be your boyfriend," Charlie said. Adam got up and he pulled Charlie into another kiss. "Come on, let's get out of this closet. I'm sure our friends will be very happy to learn we're together now."

So when they went upstairs, finding no one outside the closet, they found their teammates laughing and talking while eating some nachos.

"Wanna save some for us?" Adam asked, making his presence known.

Their teammates turned around, shocked at the sound of his voice. They looked at their clasped hands.

"FINALLY!" Fulton yelled.

"Yes, it finally happened," Adam said, smiling at Charlie.

"After so long!" Julie said.

"After so much sexual tension between you two!" Ken continued.

"It's finally happened," Charlie agreed. "After a month."

"More like several months," Averman commented.

"Okay, okay, we get it," Adam said, smiling. "You've been waiting for this a long time."

"We've been waiting for Charlie to admit he loved you and then we were waiting for you bozos to admit you're in love with each other," Julie said.

Adam and Charlie smiled at each other.

"I think we agree with them that we've been bozos for the last month, right?" Charlie asked his boyfriend.

"I think you're right," Adam said.

"Okay, enough with the mushy mushy. Let's get back to the party!" Goldberg said.

They went back to the party and had a blast all night.


	9. Telling the Parents

It was noon when Casey Conway picked up Adam and Charlie. It was around two in the morning, when everybody had fallen asleep, that they had stayed up talking.

"Charlie, I think we should tell our parents. Together, I mean. All five of us in one room," Adam had suggested.

"Great idea." Charlie yawned. "Tomorrow. I'm tired."

Charlie had rolled over, but they had talked about it after everyone, except Lester obviously, had gone home.

"Today at three?" Charlie asked.

"My house," Adam said.

They got into Mrs. Conway's car.

"Hey, Mom," Charlie said.

"Hey," Casey said, "how was the party? Anything special happen?"

Adam and Charlie looked towards each other. They had a silent agreement that they wouldn't say anything about the night before until the three parents were in the same room with the couple.

"Nothing really," Adam said.

"No," Charlie confirmed. "But we do have to go over to the Banks house around three, though."

"Why?" Casey stopped at a red stoplight and looked into the rearview mirror. "Is there a reason we're going to Adam's house? Should he just stay with us, then?"

"Oh, no, drop me off," Adam said. "Charlie and I just feel like you parents need a time to connect and really get to know each other."

"Adam, it's been four years. I think all of us parents are very acquainted with each other."

"Yeah, but this is different," Charlie said, and there was no more question about it.

Adam was back in his house ten minutes later and went into the living room to find his parents reading the newspaper.

"Hey," Adam said, making his presence known.

"Oh, honey, how was it?" Annabeth asked, putting down the "Lifestyle" section of the paper. "Anything fun happen?"

Adam shook his head. "Not really. But the Conways are coming over at three, so I suggest we put out some food while I go shower."

Annabeth and Philip Banks looked at each other in confusion. Why would Adam have Charlie and Casey Conway over?

"Why are they coming over here?" Philip asked.

"Parent bonding," Adam said. "I'm gonna go shower."

Philip and Annabeth watched as their youngest son raced up the stairs, almost humming a happy tune.

"Something happened at that party," Philip said, going back to the "Sports" section.

"No doubt we'll find out in two hours," Annabeth responded and went back to her section of the newspaper too.

Line break!

Charlie walked into the apartment door, humming. Casey found this weird since her son never hummed.

"All right, something's going on and I want to know what," Casey demanded as her son put his stuff down on the couch. "And don't tell me that I'll find out later. That's not a good enough excuse."

"Uh, yes, Mom, it is. Because you will. Now, if you don't mind, I am going to take a shower before we see Adam and his parents in a few hours." Charlie went upstairs to take a shower.

Casey knew there was no chance in arguing. She was going to get the information she needed/wanted sooner or later.

Line break!

Adam was just putting out the cheese and crackers, and other assorted snacks, when the doorbell rang. Before Philip could answer, Adam raced to the door, taking a minute to calm himself down, and opened the door to his…boyfriend…and his mother.

"Hello, Adam," Casey said.

"Hi, Mrs. Conway. Come in, take a seat." Adam took her coat and led her to the living room.

"You seem out of breath," Charlie noticed.

"Always when I'm around you," Adam whispered, making Charlie smile. He then spoke louder, "No reason. Guess I'm just a little tired. We did get only five or so hours of sleep."

"Because Goldberg wanted to play Halo at seven in the morning."

Charlie and Adam laughed and rolled their eyes at the hilarious antics of their best friend. Annabeth and Philip came into the room.

"Casey! It's been so long," Annabeth said, giving Charlie's mother a hug. She sat down and whispered to her son's crush's mom, "Do you have any idea why the three of us are together?"

"No," Casey replied, "but did you notice our sons are wearing the exact same green Ducks jersey from four years ago?"

The newly formed teen couple heard and looked down at their own shirts, and then to each other's. They laughed again. They didn't plan it, but they knew their teammates' were right in the fact that they were perfect for each other.

"So, is there a reason we're here?" Philip asked, sitting down next to his wife and putting an arm around the blonde.

"There is," Adam told his father. "And this is a very important reason."

"Which is…?" his mother said.

"We were at the party last night and got locked in a closet," Charlie said. "The guys wanted to play Seven Minutes in Heaven and the bottle landed on me."

"They told us later they put a magnet in Charlie's pocket when I spun to put us in the closet," Adam said. "Anyway, we were locked in that closet for several minutes. And we ended up having a long, deep conversation."

There was a pause, almost like for dramatic effect.

"And this conversation was what, exactly?" Casey said.

"It was about the possibility of the two of us becoming a couple," Adam said. "It started off just by saying that the guy each of us liked didn't like us, which was totally untrue, because we were talking about each other. But, it eventually got to the point where we said that we were in love with each other. I had been in love with him since September, and he had been in love with me since March."

Casey Conway and Annabeth Banks looked absolutely giddy. They were extremely happy that their sons had finally admitted their love to each other! Philip Banks let out a smile, though not as big as his wife's, happy that his son had finally gotten the one thing he had wanted since the beginning of the year: Charlie Conway.

"Go on," Philip said.

"And we kissed and we talked about how this could ruin our friendship, the team, every aspect on and off the ice," Charlie said, though he blushed when he mentioned to his mother and his boyfriend's parents that they had kissed. "We talked about how we would get through anything, though. How we always have been. We talked about how we couldn't go back to being just friends after this. Neither of us could handle it."

"We talked about how scary it was. I mean, I'd never been with a girl, much less a guy," Adam continued.

"And I'd just gotten out of a relationship with a girl, and guys were totally new to me. But, we said we wanted to be together, and that was that."

"You can never change Charlie's mind when he wants something," Casey said, laughing a little.

"Same with Adam," Annabeth said. She turned back to her son and Charlie. "So…are you guys finally together now?"

Charlie and Adam smiled at each other and then at their parents.

"Yes," they chorused.

"FINALLY!" the two mothers shouted and hugged their respective kid's boyfriend, kissing their cheek and saying that they were so happy that everything was working out and so on and so on.

And then, Philip Banks went up to the newly formed couple. It suddenly got silent as he placed a hand upon Charlie's shoulder.

"Let's go have a talk," he said to Charlie and the younger boy nodded.

Casey, Annabeth and Adam watched as Philip took Charlie took his study, where he closed the door.

Adam immediately went and put his ear against the door.

Line break!

"Sit down, Charlie," Philip said, motioning to the chair right in front of Philip's desk. Philip took the seat right behind the desk. He clasped his hands together and leaned forward towards Charlie as Charlie obeyed the command. "So, you are now dating Adam."

"Yes sir," Charlie answered, and a smile broke out on his face, as well as Philip's.

"I don't know how happy I am to hear that. I love my boy and he deserves to be happy."

"I certainly hope he is."

"Believe me, he is."

Adam broke out into a smile. Yes, he was very happy.

"So, is that what you wanted to talk about?" Charlie asked.

Philip got up from the chair and started walking around the study. He looked at the shelves of books that lined the walls of the room. He turned back and looked at the back of the somewhat frightened Charlie Conway. He let a tiny smile grace his face.

Oh, this is gonna be fun, Philip thought, and then moved towards the boy.

"See, Charlie, my son deserves the best. It's why he was on the Hawks. It's why we fought to keep him on the Hawks and why I tried to cut a deal with the league that they would redraw the lines the next year, after making an exception that Charlie would stay on the Hawks," Philip explained.

"Yes, Mr. Banks, he certainly does deserve the best," Charlie agreed.

"I never expected Adam to like boys. I thought that maybe he would turn out a little like his brother, a ladies' man. But when he came to us a Friday back in September, for some reason feeling miserable about that night, and confessed that he was gay and was in love with a boy, I was shocked. I was even more shocked to learn it was you. You can understand that, right? Was your mother shocked when she found out?"

Charlie listened. He knew exactly what Friday that Adam told his parents that he was gay. It was the day of the dine and dash, leaving the Ducks with the eight hundred dollar bill.

He remembered back a month ago when he had told his mom he was gay.

Flasback

Charlie came through the door that Saturday, a little miserable. He should be happy, right? He found out why he was feeling the way he had the previous day, so, why was he miserable?

Casey came into the living room, halfway through making dinner.

"Hey, win the game?" she asked. She noticed her son's grim look. "What's wrong? Is this about your breakup with Linda?"

"No," Charlie responded, "it isn't that. Mom, how would you feel if I was…gay?"

Casey was taken aback at the question.

"I'd still love you," she said. "But, what's bringing all this on? Are you?" Charlie nodded and hugged his mother. She soothed him. "Which boy made you realize this?"

"Adam Banks," Charlie said.

Casey wasn't really that shocked. It didn't take a genius (besides Charlie) to figure out that the Edina native was in love with her son. Of course, she never really thought her son might reciprocate those feelings. She had wanted it for months, though.

She liked Linda, she'd just rather have her son with Adam.

Charlie was happy that his mother accepted him, especially after learning that the boy he was in love with was his fellow teammate.

End Flasback

"She was a little shocked, yeah," Charlie said. "I think she was even more shocked when she found out it was Adam. Though you could always tell she preferred Adam to Linda."

"I can imagine," Philip said and put his hands on Charlie's shoulders, slightly scaring the boy.

"Sir, what's the point in this?"

"Charlie, my son is very precious to me. He deserves the best, and after much deliberating about who would be the best for my son, I have finally agreed with him that you are the best." Grins broke out on both Charlie's and Adam's faces. "He told me you were so welcoming that first day. How he was so happy you guys picked him up for the Junior Goodwill Games, because he didn't know if the friendship feeling was reciprocated. He told me about how you gave up your spot on the team when his wrist felt better. He's been through so much with you, it's hard not to imagine you're the best."

You got that right, Adam silently communicated to his father through the wooden door. He is the best.

"I think that he deserves the best, too. And he believes I'm the best for him, so I can't argue with that," Charlie said, half joking. Philip didn't find it very funny. "Sorry."

"So, his mother, I and Adam believe you are the best for Adam. I will allow you two to date, but, if there is one indication that Adam is unhappy, for instance a breakup, not a fight, we're gonna have a little talk." Charlie visibly gulped, making Philip laugh inside his head. He sat back in his chair. "Charlie, I'm joking a little, calm down. Yes, I'm allowing you two to date. You guys seem perfect for each other, but all Hell is not going to be raised by me if you two break up. I only want the best for Adam, and I don't think scaring his boyfriend will do much good for my relationship with him."

Charlie and Adam calmed down.

"Yes sir," Charlie said.

"Enough with the 'Sir'. I think we've gotten to the point where you can call me Philip."

Charlie nodded.

"Okay, Philip."

"Come on," Philip said, putting his arm around Charlie's shoulders, "let's get you back to my nosy son that's standing outside the door."

Adam ran back to the living room just as his father and his boyfriend came into the living room. Charlie went straight to Adam.

"He gave you quite a talking to, right?" Adam asked.

"He's a little scary, you're father," Charlie told Adam.

"That's because you've just gotten the 'Father Knows Best' talk."

Philip glanced at the couple as he was talking to his wife and Casey. He secretly smiled at Charlie, who smiled back, along with Adam.

"Thank you," Adam mouthed to his father.

"You're welcome," Philip mouthed back.

Adam and Charlie turned back to each other. They had agreed to go on their first date after they had told their parents that they were together.

"Well," Charlie started, "we have a date, so we're gonna go."

"Awww," Casey cooed. "Have fun."

She hugged her son and Adam. Annabeth hugged Adam and then Charlie.

"Have fun," Annabeth called as she watched the boys leave the house and walk out the door. The movie theater and a place to eat was just within walking distance of Adam's house in Edina.

Plus, your parent driving you to a first date with your boyfriend?

Mortifying.

Line break!

"They're FINALLY together!" Annabeth shrieked as she closed the door.

"I know," Casey said a little calmly.

"Well, you can say a lot about those Ducks, but you can't say they aren't good schemers and are willing to do anything for their friends," Philip put in.

Casey said she had to get home and Annabeth said she would drive the boys to Charlie's house when they came back from their date, and then Adam would come home.

Casey nodded and said that was fine and left.

Line break!

"Well, that turned out better than I expected," Adam said as the theater came into sight as he was holding Charlie's hand.

"Well, besides your dad scaring me a little," Charlie said.

"Yeah, but he'll be fine as time goes on."

"Yeah. I can't believe this is real."

"Me either."

Since it was the '90's and people weren't really that big on homosexuality, they looked around and made sure that no one was there before they kissed.

Yep, this was going to be a great first date!


	10. First Date

As Adam and Charlie took their places in the theater for the movie Liar Liar, they put the bucket of large popcorn between them and each had their separate drinks in their respective cup holders.

As the movie started ten minutes later, the two boys put their hand into the popcorn at the same time, unbeknownst to the other, and blushed when they felt, not only the other's hand in the popcorn, but also a spark. The spark that Charlie had felt in McDonald's a month ago. They two boys looked at each other, blushing, and smiled.

A few hours later, the movie ended, their drinks were gone; the large bucket of popcorn was basically a waste of money. Since the beginning of the movie they had been holding hands in it.

"That was a good movie," Adam said as they threw their trash away.

"Yeah. You wanna get something to eat now? I mean, it is dinnertime," Charlie suggested.

"Sure. What do you want?"

"There's a Chipotle right down the street. There okay?"

"Perfect," Adam said.

A few minutes later they appeared inside the Chipotle, and five minutes later, they had sat down; a burrito for Charlie, tacos for Adam and a bag of their chips in between them.

The conversation was a little awkward. Usually they could make conversation pretty easily (they were best friends after all). They knew this wouldn't be an easy transition. The change from best friends to boyfriends was a little shaky. Like they had talked about the previous night, they knew things were going to be odd for a while. They were best friends, what if they broke up? What would happen then?

Here, there was no "Getting To Know You" phase. There might be a Honeymoon phase, but they already knew everything about each other.

"Everybody's taking it pretty well," Adam said, finally finding words as his first taco was finished off.

"They've been waiting for a long time. Since last month," Charlie responded.

"Well, actually, since November."

Charlie stopped chewing his burrito. "Huh?"

"Well, they figured out I was in love with you in November. They were just waiting for you to break up with Linda and realize that I'm…I don't know…better…for you, I guess? So when you told them last month that you were in love with a guy, and undoubtedly you told them me, they were probably very happy. Frustrated for the last month for waiting, but happy."

Charlie smiled.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said.

"Well, it just makes it so much better, huh? The greatest things in life are worth waiting for."

They both smiled at the saying. Adam's smile couldn't be ripped off his face. For months he had wanted to go on a date with Charlie. For Charlie to realize Adam was the one for him. Charlie smiled at the saying and at his boyfriend's smile. He couldn't believe he could say Adam was his boyfriend.

Adam's my boyfriend, he thought, and nothing sounded righter than that. Nothing sounded better than saying that the best friend that you had a crush on, had been crushing on you back since September. It may have taken him a little while, but he finally got him.

There was some more small talk until most of the burrito was gone and when Adam was on his third and last taco. They didn't look around like before the movie. They knew people were watching them, even though it was only the workers and the other two couples in the room. Adam put his hand on top of Charlie's. Charlie smiled, and Adam returned the smile.

But both boys' good moods were ruined when the boys known as Larson and McGill walked in. Both boys internally groaned as the two formers Hawks noticed the couple. They immediately put their hands back to their bodies. The warmth was gone, and both teenagers hated that.

"Hey, Banks," Larson said, always the nice one. He didn't knock Adam into the pipes. He glared at Conway. "Conway."

"Larson," Conway said, glaring back.

"Ah, Banks, Conway, what brings you two to this establishment?" McGill asked.

Charlie and Adam turned their heads toward McGill. Neither boy answered. Instead, they just continued eating their dinner.

"You really gonna ignore your old teammates, Banks?" McGill said. "Should've known you'd turn into a wussy when you joined the Ducks. Especially when you started hanging out with them willingly."

Don't say anything, Charlie silently communicated to Adam. It'll just start a fight.

Adam seemed to get the message. He didn't nod, but Charlie knew enough about Adam that he could tell by the softness of his eyes that he got the message.

"Fine, be that way," McGill said. He turned to Larson. "Come on, let's go."

"Bye," Larson said to Adam and Charlie.

He was always the nicest one on the team.

As the two Hawks stood in line, the couple looked at each other. They had almost finished eating. They quickly finished their respective meals, plus the chips, and almost high tailed it out of there.

It was seven o'clock when the couple got back to Adam's house. Both Adam and Charlie knew that Annabeth was in the living room, trying not to spy. But even though the curtains were closed, there was still enough light shining through the window that you could see a head turned towards them. Philip was nowhere to be found in the living room.

"Well, how do we say goodnight?" Adam asked. "I'm driving you home."

"Well, you could kiss me now," Charlie started, "so then we don't have to have the awkwardness of both our moms watching. Because we know that no matter what, your mom will be watching, and then my mom will be watching."

"My mom's already watching us."

"So we only have one head watching us, not two."

"Good idea," Adam agreed and kissed Charlie for about thirty seconds.

It then got to the point where if they stood outside any longer, Annabeth would suspect something. So, grinning, they moved apart and went inside the Banks house.

"Time to bring your dear boyfriend home?" Annabeth asked, getting up from her chair and knitting needles.

"Mom, no need to ask. We know you were watching," Adam said, blushing.

Annabeth silently chided herself for being so obvious. Philip came out of his study.

"First date done already?" Philip wondered to the boys. This time, both boys blushed. "If it's any consolation, you guys look like you had a good time."

The blush didn't go away.

"Philip." Annabeth hit her husband lightly and they both laughed. Charlie and Adam looked at each other, wishing that someday they would have a relationship like that. "I'm going to drive them home right now because they look like they look like tomatoes and I don't think your teasing is helping them."

"Alright, okay," Philip said. "Goodnight Charlie."

"Goodnight Philip," Charlie said and headed out the door with his boyfriend and his boyfriend's mother.

Line break!

It was awkward in the car. The two fourteen-year-olds didn't want to talk to each other while Mrs. Banks was around.

"This is the most awkward thing," Charlie whispered to Adam next to him.

"You think I don't know that? I can't wait until we're sixteen and have our licenses," Adam whispered back.

"What's going on back there?" Annabeth asked, looking into the rearview mirror to see her son and Charlie whispering to each other.

"Just talking about how awkward this is," Adam said.

"Can't wait until you guys can drive. Then we won't have to do this, right?"

"Yep," Charlie said.

There was silence until several minutes later they were pulling up to the apartment complex where Charlie lived. Charlie and Adam got out and walked to the front door of the apartment complex.

"So…" Adam trailed off. "What happens now? With both our moms watching?"

"We say goodnight," Charlie said. "I can kiss you on the cheek?"

Adam smiled.

"Sounds good."

Adam turned his head to his left so Charlie could kiss his cheek, but at the last minutes moved so it was a kiss on the lips instead of the cheek. Charlie smiled into the kiss.

"Nice one," Charlie said after they pulled apart. Adam laughed. "Well, Mom is probably starting to wonder why I'm still down here. I'll see you on Monday?"

Adam nodded as Charlie headed upstairs to his apartment. Adam got back into his car. His mom smiled, making Adam smile.

"You knew this was coming, don't deny it," Annabeth said as she started up the car and drove away.

"I had my doubts," Adam responded as they drove out of Charlie's neighborhood.

Line break!

Charlie didn't need to use his key. In fact, he didn't even need to get out his key. The door was wide open, Casey in the living room, pretending to read. Charlie put his stuff down and turned to his mother.

"How much did you see?" he asked.

"Enough," Casey answered. "You two are so cute."

Charlie blushed and said, "You sound like Philip Banks."

"Sounds about right. So," Casey said leaning forward, "how'd the first date go?"

Casey listened and smiled as Charlie recounted his first, and definitely not his last, date with Adam. Casey sat back when it was finished.

"Well, it certainly sounds like it was a great date," she commented.

Charlie smiled. He never thought that things would turn out like this. He never thought he'd turn gay for his best friend.

"Yeah," he answered after a few minutes. "It certainly was."


	11. School Day

Adam and Charlie were the first ones at the alley where all the non-boarding Ducks went to meet up for school.

"Hey," Adam said, giving Charlie a kiss.

"Hey," Charlie responded.

"You ready?"

Charlie nodded. "You?"

Adam had never been more ready for anything in his life. Finally he was able to call Charlie his. Finally those rumors about Charlie being Adam's (and Adam being Charlie's) were true. But he was nervous at the same time, too. He'd never done this with a boy or girl. He was scared of what was to come.

"Excited but nervous," Adam answered.

Charlie put his hand on Adam's shoulder.

"There's nothing to be nervous about, okay? We walk in there holding hands and everybody knows that you're mine and I'm yours," Charlie said. "Got it?"

Adam nodded. He gave Charlie a kiss on the cheek as Goldberg rolled up to the couple.

"Could you guys, uh, not do that when people are around? All this lovey-dovey is going to make me sick and it's seven in the morning," Goldberg said.

The couple laughed and nodded.

"Got it," they chorused.

The rest of the Ducks were there within five minutes.

"You guys ready?" Connie asked as they started roller blading to school in a "V". Averman was heading the group while Connie and Guy were first behind him, Charlie and Adam followed while Goldberg was straight behind Adam on the left and Fulton behind Charlie on the right. "To show the school, I mean?"

"Ready," Adam said.

"Ready," Charlie said and gave his boyfriend a smile.

Ten minutes later the group met the boarding Ducks in front of the school on the stairs.

"We're ready," Adam said, cutting of Julie's question which he had heard all too often this morning for being with his friends for a little more than fifteen minutes. "Don't need to ask us that question a million times."

"I was just going to say hi," Julie lied. It scared her sometimes how easily her friends could read her mind. But on the other hand, it probably was a question that they got asked a lot this morning.

"Sure."

"Let's just go in there," Luis said.

Adam and Charlie glanced at each other. Charlie could see the nervousness in his boyfriend's eyes. Charlie had done this many times for so many months before. Adam had never done this.

He'll get used to it, Charlie told himself as his right hand grabbed Adam's left.

"Yeah, let's go in," Adam agreed.

So Adam and Charlie were the last ones to go in. Adam didn't necessarily want to go in the front and they knew nobody was going to see them in the middle. They wanted to make a kind-of big deal about it since people had been going on about this for…well…ever.

Charlie pinched Adam's cheek before they went in. Adam smiled and laughed, walking in and pinched Charlie's cheek.

"You're such an idiot," Adam said, meaning it in a funny way.

The conversation turned heads as they saw the two boys play fighting.

"No, you're the idiot," Charlie said as they continued walking.

"You're both idiots!" Averman yelled from down the hall. "Now just make up and get over here."

"Kiss and make up?" Charlie asked Adam.

There was a collective gasp from the rest of the student body that filled the main hallway of the Eden Hall school.

"Fine," Adam said and both boys leaned in for a kiss.

Like every other time, the kiss held fireworks and neither wanted to let the other go. But there were cheers all around, breaking the fireworks and Russ was pulling them apart.

"I think that's enough PDA for one day, dontcha think, boys?" he said.

Yes, that was enough PDA for the rest of the day. Nobody needed to see anymore because as the couple deemed Chadam was looking around, they noticed smiles, dollar bills being passed to each other, and just an all around celebration.

"Didn't know we were that popular," Adam whispered to Charlie as the boys joined the rest of the Ducks.

"Oh believe me, people started placing bets when Adam was put back on JV. We on the other hand," Dwayne said, "started placing bets when Charlie gave up his roster spot last year."

Adam's and Charlie's mouths dropped.

"Last year?" Charlie said. "But—but—I didn't even—"

"Know then?" Averman said.

"We figured it out pretty soon that you two were gonna end up together," Connie said.

"Okay, fork over your deals," Russ said. He grabbed a piece of paper out of his locker, which they were all standing around. "Averman, you owe Connie ten bucks. Luis, give Fulton five…"

Adam and Charlie marveled at how Russ was calling names and who owed who how much.

"You guys seriously didn't think we wouldn't bet, right?" Julie said. "Because, really, we did."

"We can see that," Adam said.

"You guys were some of the most oblivious people ever!" a kid named Sam Reyolds said.

"To be fair, Charlie was, Adam wasn't," Goldberg said, counting how many twenties he had in his hands.

The rest of the Ducks, even Charlie and Adam, agreed.

Charlie and Adam bid their friends adieu to go to their lockers and get their stuff for the day.

It wasn't until fourth period lunch that they could actually sit and talk to each other. They sat far apart in most classes, so they couldn't necessarily talk or pass notes without being caught by the teacher, considering sometimes they sat at the very front.

"Adam, Charlie, how are you two today?" Portman asked as they all sat down at their usual table for lunch.

"Shut up, Portman," Adam said, smiling a little though.

Just then, Coach Ted Orion came over with his wallet. He shook his head at the two boys.

"Couldn't have waited until September, huh?" he asked as he threw a few dollar bills on the table. He walked away.

"How the hell did you get Orion to get in on the bidding?" Charlie said, biting into his sandwich.

"Easy," Goldberg said, shrugging, "he came up to us, said he wanted in back in November."

"And you let him?" Adam inquired.

"Yeah," the team said as if it was obvious.

"You guys are idiots."

"Uh, no, that would be you two," Guy said.

"We went over this already," Connie said. "This morning, remember? When you gave me ten bucks?"

"And that is your birthday gift, my dear."

Scott walked over to table. He put his hands on the top of Julie's shoulders.

"From one goalie to another, you owe me a little cash," the Varsity player said.

Julie glared at the goalie, whom a few months ago had given her a kiss on the cheek, and got out her wallet, which was now packed to the brim and still bulging.

"Five dollars, just like you asked. But, to be fair, Adam started liking Charlie back in September, so really, you owe me three," the Ducks goalie said.

"Fine, give me two, then."

Julie handed over two singles. She looked smug at the boy as he walked away.

"He started like you just about when you started liking Charlie," she explained. "So, he's kinda peeved off about that."

"How many people were in on this bet?" Adam asked.

"The whole school," Kenny said.

"Almost all the teachers too," Fulton continued.

"Our parents," Averman said.

"We get it," Charlie interrupted, "basically the whole school wanted us together."

"Junior Goodwill Games opposing teams, too," Russ said, taking a bite of his fajita.

"Somebody came up to me and asked when you two had started dating," Luis said.

"I didn't even know back then!" Adam said.

"Well, apparently everybody else did," Guy said.

"Locally and internationally famous noncouple ever to be seen on TV," Portman laughed.

Everybody except Charlie and Adam started laughing. To them, it was a little funny, but not funny enough that they could giggle and chuckle about it. People had wanted them together, people they didn't even know, and nobody told them?

"Oh come on. You guys had to know everybody wanted you together!" Russ said.

"We knew you guys did, but not anybody else, really," Charlie said.

"Except for that then-untrue-now-true rumor that I was his and he was mine," Adam rebutted his boyfriend.

"Okay, well, we didn't know the teachers wanted us together."

"Oh, they do, believe me. The teachers wanted you two together very much," Connie said.

"Better believe it," Fulton said.

The boys didn't know how to respond to that, so they changed the subject and continued eating.

The rest of the day was the same. They saw green paper being traded, whispers around the halls and everything.

"Gets annoying after awhile, huh?" Charlie asked as they got to Adam's locker for the end of the school day.

"Well, when everyone's wanted to see two people together for months, I guess it kinda get a little annoying," Adam said.

Adam and Charlie—after they had raided Charlie's locker for the day—met the Minnesota Ducks at the front of the school. They waved goodbye to the boarding Ducks and headed back home.

Charlie was first to arrive home. He put his skates in his room.

"How was walking into school today?" Casey inquired, coming into the living room.

"Well, everybody wanted us together so there was a lot of betting and money passed around today," Charlie said, plopping down on a chair.

"Well, we've wanted you two together for a while."

"I know. I found that out today."

Casey looked at Charlie. He looked exhausted. It was probably taxing today to find out all these people wanted you two together and then when it finally happened, it was hard.

"Don't worry, it'll get better."

Casey got up and went to her room to get ready for work. Charlie just laid on the chair, doing homework until dinnertime.

Line break!

Adam put his skates on the mat as he walked in.

"How was today?" Annabeth said.

"How long have you and Dad wanted Charlie and I to be together?" Adam immediately attacked.

Annabeth was taken aback by the question.

"A few months, why? Did someone say something?"

"Everybody was pretty open about handing their money over to people today. Just wanted to know."

Annabeth looked at her son. He looked happy, yet a little bit angry of sorts. Happy because he finally got the boy he had been pining over since September, but angry because so many people had wanted them together and he didn't really know.

"Go lie down and do your homework. Dinner will be ready in a few hours," Annabeth said, leading her son up the stairs with his backpack.

One thing the mothers could agree on was that they were happy their sons were together and out in the school. They just hoped it was a better day tomorrow. One thing the teenage couple could agree one was that today was probably one of the most taxing days ever. They just hoped it would be better tomorrow.


	12. First Fight

Nobody was surprised when Adam and Charlie didn't have a fight in the first month they were dating. The second month started to concern them. They knew that the longer the couple went without fighting, the worse the fight was going to be. When it came to July, their third month together, the fight came.

It wasn't just any other fight, either. The fight was enormous. It was the worst fight that the two had ever had, friendship or lovers. This fight almost broke up both.

The gang had asked Adam to play a game of hockey on the first Saturday of July, the third, a week before Charlie and Adam's three month anniversary. Adam had said he couldn't go because he was hanging out with his cousin.

So, with that, Charlie and the Ducks went to their usual street hockey place. They had told Adam that they were playing at a different one, but since that place was taken, they had to resort to their usual place.

Charlie was just about to shoot the puck past Goldberg into the goal when he saw Adam.

Sitting with another boy.

Who was definitely not his cousin.

"Charlie! What the Hell man?" Averman asked as the puck was taken away from Charlie by Ken and down the other end of the court.

But Charlie just stood watching as his boyfriend and the stranger laughed and drank smoothies. The other Ducks noticed where Charlie was staring.

"So, tell me about this…Charlie," the mysterious boy said.

"Smart, hot headed, loves hockey—"

"Oh, so he lives and breathes it like you, huh?"

"Shut up," Adam said, laughing. "He doesn't easily trust well, either. You need to gain his trust."

"He's trying to trust his boyfriend right now!" Charlie shouted.

Adam and the boy turned around at the sound of the Captain's voice. Charlie came around the fence to stand in front of his boyfriend. The rest of the Ducks followed.

"Charlie, it's not—" Adam started.

"What it looks like? It looks like you lied to me. This isn't your cousin!" Charlie shouted.

"Hey, hold on, why don't you believe him?" the boy said.

"Because I know my boyfriend. He and I have been friends for four years. Go ahead, explain yourself." There were a few moments of silence that were agonizing. Charlie and Adam just looked at each other. "Can't explain right now, huh? Goodbye, Adam."

Charlie left, and immediately the Ducks were on the former Hawk.

"Adam, how could you?" Julie asked.

"You're so stupid!" Averman yelled.

"After all that you two have been through," Connie said.

"I'M NOT CHEATING ON CHARLIE!" Adam screamed so loud other people in the park heard them. "After all that I've gone through to get Charlie, do you honestly think I'd cheat on him?"

"Still doesn't explain him," Luis said, pointing to the redhead next to Adam.

"Reagan here blows pictures up and frames them. I wanted to get a picture done like that and give it to Charlie for our anniversary."

The Ducks were ashamed of themselves that they immediately jumped to conclusions.

"Sorry," they all mumbled.

"That's not gonna get Charlie back, is it?" Adam asked.

"Nope," Goldberg said.

Adam sighed. His heart broke inside.

He really thought I would cheat on him? He thought.

"We'll get him back, don't worry." Fulton clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"After all we went through. How can he think that?"

"Because the boy is stupid," Portman said.

"Come on, let's all grab some lunch and we'll talk this over," Ken suggested, and the group headed out to lunch.

Line break!

Charlie sped home and immediately dropped down onto his bed. Wetness was coming down his face.

"What happened at the park?" Casey asked, coming into her son's room. Charlie recounted the story. Casey sat appalled, but knew Adam would never do anything like that. "Why don't you believe him?"

"He couldn't explain anything to me!" Charlie shouted.

"Maybe it was something secret."

Charlie scoffed and rolled over, not bothering to take off his helmet, skates or pads.

"Yeah right," he mumbled.

Casey sighed and left her son's room. She just hoped her hotheaded son would calm down and see that Adam wouldn't cheat on him.

Line break!

It was around four o'clock and Reagan and Adam went back to Adam's house after having lunch with his friends. Reagan was Adam's cousin's best friend, and that's how the two met.

"Thanks for doing this for me, Reagan. I don't know if it'll make up for anything, but thanks," Adam said.

"You're welcome," Reagan told Adam. "I just hope you and lover boy get over this little snag."

"We always do."

Reagan left, saying he'd drop off the gift tomorrow.

Adam wasn't happy at dinner, and both his mom and dad could see it. When Adam told them what had happened, like everybody else, they were appalled.

"Charlie was never really one to see reason right away," Adam commented.

"Yeah, but you guys will get through it," Annabeth said.

"I don't know. It may take a while. I mean, we talked about this when we first talked about being together. If this ruins our relationship, it could damage our friendship, too."

"Let me tell you one thing," Philip told Adam. "It's that you fight for what you want. So if Charlie's what you want, you have to make him understand that this is worth fighting for."

Adam nodded.

He didn't get a wink of sleep that night.

Line break!

True to his word, Reagan dropped off the giftwrapped picture at noon the next day. Adam thanked his cousin's best friend and stared at the gift as Reagan left. His mother finally said something when she caught in standing in the doorway for more than three minutes.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I don't know if I should take it over to him. He didn't exactly leave me yesterday on good terms," Adam responded.

"I would, just in case. Or leave it with Casey."

Adam nodded and put on his skates. He skated over to Charlie's apartment with the picture in hand. He was ready to put it in Casey's hands, not Charlie's.

Adam took off his skates just before he rang the doorbell.

"Hey, Mrs. Conway," Adam said when Casey opened the door. "I guess you heard about what happened yesterday."

Casey stood in the doorway, arms crossed across her chest.

"I believe you didn't cheat on Charlie. You want to give me the whole story?" she said.

And again, Adam recounted what his plan was. He pointed to the present, and when Casey opened the door wider to let her son's boyfriend in, he dashed up the stairs. He noticed Charlie's bedroom door was opened, but he was still asleep. Adam rolled his eyes and set the present on the bedside table with a note that he had written.

He thanked Casey, put his skates back on and left. He went home, brokenhearted.

Line break!

Charlie woke up around two and found a note reading "Charlie" in Adam's handwriting and a present that looked suspiciously like a picture frame.

"He came all the way over here to drop that off," Casey said as she stood in the doorway, Charlie sitting upright with the card and present in hand.

"Yeah, well—" Charlie started.

"No," she protested. "You are going to read that card and open that present because dammit he sounded as heartbroken as can be and if you don't think that he still loves you after all of that, well, you're wrong."

Charlie's mom left the room and Charlie looked at the present and card. He opened the envelope. There was just a plain piece of paper reading:

Charlie,

I know it looked bad yesterday. But you've got to believe me that I would never cheat on you. I love you too much to do that. After all I've done to get you, there's nothing more I want than to keep you.

This was meant as an Anniversary gift, but since I don't know if we're having one right now or not, I thought I'd give it to you. That's what Reagan was there for yesterday. He blows up pictures and frames them. We were getting lunch and you guys said you were going to the other court, so I guessed eating there was safe. He wanted to know more about us.

Love,

Adam

Charlie put the card down and ripped into the red paper, seeing the framed blown up photo of a picture somebody had taken a few weeks before.

The gang was all playing street hockey and Adam and Charlie took the face off. But instead of being rough and growling at each other, they smiled and laughed. The Ducks just wanted to play, but Averman snapped a picture and gave it to Adam.

Charlie's heart always swelled at the smile on his face. Never in a million years did he think he'd fall for his best friend. He put it on his bedside table, but stopped when he saw another piece of paper taped to the back of the frame.

It was from Reagan.

Dear Charlie,

I don't really know that much about you. I'm only Adam's cousin's best friend. But blowing up and framing this picture of you two looking at each other, laughing when you are supposed to be serious, show me how much you two love each other. He was telling me a bit about you two yesterday. How long you guys have been together, how long each of you liked the other, the fights, Varsity, the Hawks, everything.

I don't know your side of the story, only his, but I can tell you that he would never cheat on you. He wouldn't even think about it. I know this doesn't mean much coming from a stranger, but there's a drastic change in the way he looks like in this picture versus what he looked like yesterday when you stormed off.

Stop letting your precious pride get in the way of apologizing. This picture is amazing. (Even better amazing than what it looked like. You're welcome).

Sincerely,

Reagan

Charlie couldn't believe he had been this stupid! He had immediately jumped to conclusions. But what was he supposed to think? He'd met Adam's cousin. Adam didn't seem to have any other guy friends besides the Ducks.

And now he understood.

He quickly laced on his skates, went down the stairs and rode until he got to Edina. He took off his skates. He knocked on the door and Adam's mother opened it.

Charlie, out of breath from riding so fast over there, was wheezing and could barely ask the question of where his boyfriend was…that is, if Adam still wanted him as a boyfriend after all he put him through.

"Upstairs," Annabeth said. She let him in, but grabbed Charlie's arm as he headed upstairs. "Wait. Don't…don't break his heart. Not again. I haven't seen him this upset since September."

Charlie knew what September meant, and that made him all the more determined to get up to Adam's room. He nodded and Annabeth let him go. He raced up the steps where Adam's door was closed.

Charlie knocked on it.

"Go away, Mom!" The voice, Adam's voice, sounded broken and strained, like he had been crying.

Adam Banks never cried. Charlie knocked again.

"I just want to be left alone! Charlie doesn't want me anymore! He's all but said it!" Adam called.

Charlie's heart broke just then. He'd really put Adam through all this? He opened the door and walked in. Adam was sitting on his bed, face to the window, back to Charlie.

"Who says he doesn't want you anymore?" Charlie's voice was soft.

Adam sighed and turned around.

"Because he—" Adam started to say, spinning around, but stopped. "Charlie."

"Hi," Charlie said.

"Come to break up?"

"Actually, came to apologize." Charlie stepped into the room and stood in front of Adam. "I love the gift. I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions. I should've heard your part, too."

"I just wanted it to be a surprise. After all this time, you'd actually think I'd cheat on you?"

Charlie sighed and took Adam's hands. Adam stood up. Even at fifteen he stood taller than Charlie, though he knew Charlie would hit his growth spurt eventually.

"No," Charlie answered. "It's just…I saw you with that boy and my mind didn't think anything else."

"Just, believe me next time, huh?" Adam said.

Charlie nodded and the two kissed.

"It's a beautiful picture," Charlie said.

"Why do you think I chose it?"

Chalie laughed and they kissed again. There were knocks on the door.

"Come in!" Adam yelled. The three parents of the couple came through the door. "Yes, everything is fine."

"Yes!" Annabeth and Casey shouted.

Philip, scary as he always was, came around to Charlie. Charlie tensed.

"Charlie…" Philip said. "Just…try not to hurt him anymore, okay?"

Charlie nodded.

"Okay, go have fun. Get out of here."

Charlie and Adam smiled. They grabbed their skates and skated to the park, happy that their first fight was over.


	13. Epilogue

The gang was all sitting around a booth at Mickey's Diner. Their sweat was still on their faces after playing their final high school game together on Varsity. Everyone was quiet, knowing that the last Flying "V" they had done in the game was the last time they would probably ever run that play.

"I find this really stupid," Guy said, smashing into his rhubarb pie. "We're all going to be going to different colleges in a few months and we can't even talk about the fact that we're going to different colleges and probably won't play together professionally again."

"We'll all still be a phone call away," Julie said.

"It won't be the same. We'll play against each other, not with each other," Guy said.

Everyone was silent, knowing Guy was right. It wasn't really fair that none of them were scouted by the same college.

Charlie kept glancing at Adam, swirling around his hot chocolate. Even though it was months away, they had never really discussed the idea of what would happen to them after they left high school.

They should have that talk tonight.

"Well, we gotta get back before curfew," Kenny said, getting up and throwing some money on the table and leading the other boarders out of the restaurant. The others, except Charlie and Adam, followed to go back home.

"We gotta talk," Charlie said.

"Yeah, we do," Adam said.

"What's going to happen to us?"

Adam shrugged.

"Honestly?" he asked. "I don't know. I want to be with you, it's all I've ever wanted for a long time, but what happens in college when we're far away? What happens if one of us gets too aggressive on the ice against each other and we accidentally hurt the other?"

"Yeah, because you don't get hurt most," Charlie joked, trying to lighten the mood. Adam shot him a glare. "What happens now?"

"We see where the school year and summer takes us."

So, they did. But when it finally came to August, they didn't know what to say to each other. It was a week before Adam had to leave for Boston University. They sat on Adam's front step.

"We're still together," Charlie said.

"Yep," Adam replied, popping the 'p'.

"And…?"

"I don't know, Charlie! I never thought I'd get this far! I never thought I'd get you, so why do you think I have everything planned out?"

"Adam, I don't."

"Yes, you do! You always look to me for the plans! I can't be the one who's always deciding what happens, Charlie!"

Charlie, always one who had a temper, decided to let it go for now and stormed off his boyfriend's front step.

They didn't speak to each other when every team member saw one Duck off until finally it was the morning that Adam was supposed to leave. Charlie and Adam didn't know where they stood. Had they broken up? Neither knew, but both were too stubborn to talk to the other.

"Adam's leaving in three hours," Casey said at breakfast that morning as Charlie came down. "Go fix things."

Charlie wanted to, he really did, but as the time grew closer and closer to when Adam and his family were going to leave, Charlie got more and more nervous. What would he do if he wanted to fix things but Adam didn't?

You've got to try, a voice inside his head said.

And that's when Charlie scraped back his chair, laced up his skates and skated to Edina. Adam was just getting into the car when Charlie rolled up the walkway.

"Charlie?" Adam sounded genuinely surprised to see him, which hurt him a little. Was he not expecting him to come and fix things? "What are you doing here?"

Adam's mom and dad came out while Adam continued to stare at Charlie.

"Oh, we'll just be inside," Annabeth said, pushing herself and her husband back inside and shut the door.

"You come for a reason?" Adam asked, standing just beside the packed car's door.

"We can't do this," Charlie said.

"Do what?"

"We can't keep not talking to each other for weeks at a time every time we have a little fight."

"This wasn't little Charlie, this was if we wanted to stay together while at opposite sides of the country!"

"And you said you hadn't gotten that far in thinking."

"I thought I'd never get you, and when I finally got you, I didn't think we'd last this long."

"Well, do you want to continue this?" Charlie inquired.

"Yes, yes, I do, but we can't just give up everytime we have a fight. It's going to get old, and eventually neither of us will be able to take it anymore," Adam answered.

"So?" Charlie shrugged. "What do we do?"

Adam moved closer to Charlie and was eventually able to grab his hands.

"This is what's going to happen: we stay together during college, and if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out," he said.

"And after?"

Adam smiled.

"I haven't gotten that far yet."

Charlie smiled at the couple kissed. Adam's parents came out of the house, his mom saying that they really had to leave to beat the traffic. She and Adam's dad came over and gave Charlie one last goodbye hug. Adam gave Charlie one last hug and kiss before he got into the car and left for college.

Charlie, who would do the same in two days, watched as his boyfriend left Minnesota.

Epilogue

Charlie and Adam stayed together, but they couldn't deny it wasn't hard from their colleges. There were tons of temptations, but they stayed true. All the Ducks met one another at one time or another playing ice hockey against them. They would knock them down and apologize and help them up until they would remember they were on opposite teams.

The Ducks stayed in touch with each other as much as they could. Guy and Connie married right out of college. The other Ducks found love too, but none of them are married, yet.

And the true lovers of our story, Charlie and Adam?

Well, Adam didn't get that far yet, but he was hoping in one month he was going to propose.

And then see where life would lead the two of them and their friends.


End file.
